Mind Over Heart
by The Yank and The Brit
Summary: #06 in the Diesel & Steph series. Diesel gets a new assignment.
1. Chapter 1

**Mind Over Heart**

**By JanG.**

**Disclaimer:** The characters from the world of Stephanie Plum are the sole property of the author, Janet Evanovich. I have only borrowed them and do not wish to make money off them. This story, however, is copyrighted to the mentioned author. This story is for entertainment purposes ONLY.

**Author's Note: **This is the sixth story in my Diesel and Steph series; the reading order is as follows: An Unmentionable Choice; Truth & Regrets; Atonement and the Learning Curve; Distractions; Love & Disclosure.

I have to give immense thanks to AmyF. She helped me get back on track after a break from writing, she beta'd it for me and she helped make this a whole lot better than it would have been without her input.

**Rating: **R (For sexual situations)

**Chapter One**

The first streaks of dawn were lighting up the sky as I lay in bed unable to sleep. The only sound I could hear was the squeak of Rex's wheel as the little animal ran his nightly marathon in the kitchen.

I looked down at the woman sleeping soundly next to me. Well, on me actually. Somehow, she always ends up using me as a pillow. Not that I mind. One of the perks of being loved by Stephanie Plum is that I get to hold her in my arms all night long.

She doesn't realize how beautiful or special she is. The very first time I saw Stephanie Plum I knew she had potential. Not just her untapped Unmentionable powers but also on a very personal level. Especially her lips. I remember saying at the time that a 'guy could get ideas looking at those lips'. Now as I looked at those oh-so-kissable lips I was tempted to kiss her, but I didn't, she needed her sleep.

I'd wanted to kiss her from the first moment I'd been dropped into her apartment. That had been when I'd been on the trail of John Ring. And it hadn't taken me long to give into temptation.

I'd kissed her in the parking lot of her building when I'd brought her home after visiting the sites of the two fires that Ring had started. The first had been at Sandy Claws' neighbor's and the second at his toy store.

I don't know why I'd kissed her. Perhaps I'd just been trying to prove a point. Or perhaps not. But something made me pull her to me and kiss those delicious lips. I can still remember how that kiss rocked me to the core. I knew she had been affected too.

But she'd been thick with Morelli back then. After I'd returned Ring to the secure wing at Lakewood, I'd gone back to her apartment. She'd been asleep in bed with Morelli, but my arrival had awoken her. I knew then that not only was she special but she had also become special to me. When I'd said goodbye, I'd kissed the palm of her hand and swore to myself that one day we would be together.

Two months ago, I asked her to marry me and she answered me with a 'definite maybe'; and a little over a month ago, I moved in with her. I haven't brought up the subject of marriage again, however. I've come to the conclusion that when she's ready to get married, she'll tell me. If I keep asking, she's going to dig her heels in and refuse.

Things have been quiet for the past couple of weeks on the skip front, both conventional and unconventional. Perhaps we should have been using the down time to look for a larger place, but I think neither of us wanted to tempt fate by officially signing anything in both our names.

Looking down at Steph again, I softly kissed her forehead, careful not to wake her and closed my eyes in the hope that I might get some sleep before the alarm signaled the beginning of another day.

A loud electronic and discordant beeping woke me, and glancing at the clock I realized I'd barely managed an hour of sleep.

Steph rolled over and covered her head with her pillow while I reached out and turned off the alarm. Leaning over to her side of the bed, I kissed a smooth and naked shoulder. "Hey, sexy. Wake up."

"No. It's too early. Don't want to."

"You're a ray of sunshine this morning aren't you?"

She pulled the pillow off her head and glared at me. "Perhaps if you hadn't had your wicked way with me so many times last night, I might be happier to greet the morning."

"Hon, you're never happy to see the sun rise." I pulled her to me. "I didn't hear you complaining last night." I kissed her lips before she could wriggle away from me and hide back under her pillow.

"I'm not complaining about the activity." She grinned at me. "I'm just complaining about having to wake up before noon after such a comprehensive work out."

The vibrating dance of my cell phone on the night table stopped any more discussion about our activities the night before. Picking it up, I read the text message that had just arrived. I glanced over at Steph, "I knew the quiet was too good to last. I've got a meeting at 9:30 this morning. Looks like I've been given a new assignment."

"In Trenton, or will you have to go away?"

"I won't know until after the meeting." I swung my legs out of bed, grabbed my robe and headed out of our bedroom towards the kitchen to get the coffee started. "I promise to call you as soon as I've got the details."

By the time the coffee was ready Steph had made an appearance in the kitchen and had already fed the rat. "What are your plans for today?" I asked, nuzzling the back of her neck as she stood at the counter watching Rex sniff at his breakfast.

She leant back into me and I felt the burn of desire starting to wake up parts of me that had no business waking up, considering I had an important meeting to get to.

"I thought I'd go to the office and hang out with the girls. With a bit of luck there'll be a file or two for me." She turned around to face me and I held her loosely around her waist. "Although I doubt it, everyone seems to be turning up for their court dates lately."

"You know you look so sexy first thing in the morning. All mussed and thoroughly satisfied."

"Well, I am thoroughly satisfied. You satisfied me at least four times last night, at least that's all I can remember. Were there any more after I fell asleep?" Her smile was like an invitation to repeat any one of those performances.

I grinned at her and shook my head. "You wore me out, hon. I think I was out for the count just a few seconds after you. Besides, I don't think you could have slept through one of my 'satisfactions'!" I pulled her close and kissed her. She moaned slightly as I caressed her lips with my tongue and she opened her mouth, meeting my tongue with hers. I love kissing this woman. But I really had to get to that meeting. Regretfully I released her, picked up my coffee, and I took it into the bathroom to drink when I'd finished my shower.

An hour later I was in a non-descript conference room in an office building that could've been anywhere in the world, and probably was. I honestly had no idea where we were. When I receive a call, I just lock onto the Powers That Be and materialize at their location.

Facing me across the wide hardwood table were three distinguished looking men all in their sixties or perhaps early seventies. I've met these men many times, but I still don't know their names or where they come from. They've never introduced themselves to me and have never wasted their time on pleasantries.

It's the same story every time I come here to receive a new assignment. I sit down and one of them passes me a file. A file very similar to the sort that Steph gets from Connie. This time the file was thick. I pulled the manila folder towards me and opened it to the first page. Reading the name, I looked up at my superiors. I'd never refused a job before and had never even raised an eyebrow at any of the assignments that I'd been given. This one, however, had trouble written all over it.

The Elder in the center cleared his throat. "I think you might need some help on this case. Perhaps your student, or more accurately, your fiancée could be of some use. I believe she chases criminals for a living. Correct?"

"She's not my fiancée… yet." I replied absently, already thinking of whom I could ask to help me instead of Steph. I really didn't want her in on this one; I couldn't bear it if she got hurt because of me.

I gathered up the file and stood. "How much time do I have to bring him in?"

"There is no time limit, but he must be brought back into the system with all possible haste. The longer he is at large, the higher the possibility that a number of Normals could get hurt. We would like to avoid that at all costs. Plus our world will be put in a greater danger of discovery."

I nodded my head in the Elders' direction and left the room, the file tucked safely under my arm. Once outside the large double doors of the conference room, I flipped open my cell phone. I knew whom I had to call. He'd helped on Unmentionable cases a few times before, and he was good.

He answered on the first ring.

"This is Diesel. I might be needing some back-up in the very near future. You going to be around?"

"Yes. Usual terms and conditions?" His voice was as cultured as always.

"Yes. I'll be in touch if I need to call you in." I disconnected, not feeling inclined to get into a more detailed discussion.

Secure in the knowledge that back-up was in place, should the need arise, my next step was to track the skip. I popped myself back to the apartment and booted up my computer. While I waited for the machine to wake up, I sent a text message to Steph telling her I was home and went to make a fresh pot of coffee.

I know Steph thinks that I track my skips with my powers, but in actuality seventy-five percent of my tracking abilities relied on search programs similar to those that RangeMan used. My software, however, used different search parameters because it only searched for paranormal activity.

Two tedious hours later, it looked as if the search programs had finally spat out as much information about my skip that they were going to. I was sitting at the computer reading when the skin on the back of my neck started to tingle.

That prickling feeling told me that Steph was in the vicinity. I opened the front door and stood in the open doorway waiting for her to step out of the elevator. When she did, I grinned at her and was rewarded with a smile that made my day.

As she drew close, I pulled her into my arms and kissed the top of her head before allowing her to continue into the apartment.

She went straight into the kitchen and I heard her bag make a thud as she dropped it on the counter. I shut the door and followed her in. I nodded at the folder in her hand. "I see someone finally forgot to show up for court."

Steph handed me the folder and indicated that I should open it. "Yeah, Connie had an FTA for me. He's quite a high bond even though it's just a disturbing the peace."

I took the folder and scanned the first page. My heart gave a lurch as some of the pertinent details caught my eye. How was I going to tell her that she needed to stay far away from this one? I closed the file and walked into the living room to pick up the folder that I'd received that morning from the Elders.

Keeping her file, I passed the Unmentionable one to her. She looked at me quizzically and I nodded at the file in her hands. "That's my new assignment."

She flopped down on the couch, toed off her sneakers, and curled her legs up on the seat tucking her feet under her as she opened the file to the first page. She concentrated on the details for all of thirty seconds before looking up at me. Her look was one of total disbelief. "It's the same guy!"

I nodded. "Yeah, and he's dangerous." I took a seat next to her and stretched my arm along the back of the couch behind her. "Even I might need back-up on this one, Steph."

"Perhaps we should work together on this?"

I shook my head. "No, hon, you can't bring him back into the regular system. He has to go back to Lakewood. He's far too dangerous. We can't allow him to be taken into custody by Normals; our whole world would be blown wide open. He's even dangerous to our kind."

Steph frowned. "If he gets taken back to Lakewood, what'll happen to Vinnie's bond?"

"He's got insurance," I shrugged, "but he'll get an anonymous cashier's check to cover his out-of-pocket expenses."

She seemed satisfied with that answer and continued reading the file, and after a minute, she looked up at me. "D, do you know this Rob Steward? I mean have you ever met him?"

"No I haven't, but he's infamous within our community. He came into his powers at a very early age; he was no older than Mary Alice. In his case, however, there was no one to guide him. He was a loner and found it difficult to make friends at school. He would get kids to play with him by planting thoughts in their minds. The more he did it, the more control he had over his power and over people.

"By the time he was an adult he was able to make people do whatever he wanted, just by the power of suggestion. He was originally put in the secure wing at Lakewood because he had a nasty habit of getting Normals to steal for him. They would end up going to jail and he would get away free and clear.

"Two weeks ago he escaped and now he's up to his old tricks again. This time, though, he's added a new twist. Not only is he getting Normals to steal for him, but he's getting them to create diversions, a fight or an argument, to keep the police busy while he absconds with the loot."

She looked at me with an expression of curiosity mixed with concern. "Apart from theft, has he hurt anyone?"

"Not yet, but it's only a matter of time. His diversionary tactics are getting more and more violent."

"So at the moment he's really no more dangerous than most of my skips?" She tapped the folder on her lap, and I could see that she wasn't going to back down easily. "Why should I stay away from him? I mean, now with my powers I'm more than a match for him."

I brought my hand down from the back of the couch to play with her hair. "Steph, hon, Steward is powerful. More powerful than me, and I'm good. He controls people's minds. Makes them do things, things they wouldn't normally do. Trust me on this, he's dangerous." I pulled her closer and softly kissed her temple. "You could get seriously hurt if you go up against this guy."

"I'm an empath, D. Wouldn't that give me some protection?"

"Not against Steward."

"So… you want me to hand this file off to someone like Ranger? Or maybe even you? Is that what you want? You don't think I can do my job safely?" Her eyes narrowed and her voice got just a tad louder. "Is that it? Someone like Ranger would be even more vulnerable. I could at least pop myself away – he couldn't."

She was starting to get angry with me. I could understand why. She'd spent years with Morelli, and as much as he loved her, he was always trying to keep her safe, possibly even change her job.

I didn't want her to change her job, but I did want to keep her safe. That's a natural instinct when you love someone.

"Diesel, I can take care of myself, and there is no way in Hell I'm going to give Steward to Ranger, or anyone else. Connie gave me the file and I'm going to bring him in. He's worth a grand to me."

A slight flush of anger stained her cheeks and indignation showed on her face. Her eyes were sparkling with an inner fire and it was turning me on. Placing my hands on either side of her face I lightly kissed her lips. I pulled back but kept hold of her face, making her meet my gaze.

"Steph, first, you don't have to worry about money any more. What's mine is yours, you know that. You'll never have to wonder if you'll be able to make the rent ever again. Second, I know you can take care of yourself. I would never think that you couldn't… against any Normal skip. By normal I mean not an Unmentionable. But if you go up against this guy you could get yourself killed. He's that bad. And it's a million times worse because you are an empath."

She shook off my hands and stood up. "You're just trying to stop me from muscling in on your apprehension." I'd never seen Steph flounce before, but that's exactly what she did next. She flounced away from me and marched into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

I sat there for a while longer, thinking about what had just happened. I think we'd just had our first fight. I sighed and got up. Knocking on the bedroom door, I waited.

"What?" Her voice was muffled as if she was talking into her pillow.

"Steph, I'm coming in."

"I won't stop you Diesel, it's your bedroom as well as mine."

I felt a wave of relief. Her words meant she still wanted me near her. Slowly, I opened the door and entered. She was lying on the bed, as I'd thought, with her face turned into a pillow, and she had another hugged to her chest. Sitting down on the bed, I leaned over and smoothed her hair away from her neck and continued to caress the soft skin at the nape.

"Did we just have our first fight?"

She didn't answer but I felt her head move slightly in a nodding motion.

"I'm sorry, hon. I didn't mean to cast aspersions on your ability to do your job. You know that I think you're damn good at what you do. But Steward... well Steward is out of your league. Hell, he's almost out of mine too. As I said earlier, I might have to call in back-up on this one. I've already contacted someone."

She rolled over and looked me square in the face. "Who?"

"Someone I've worked with before. Someone who's handled Unmentionable cases on a number of occasions." I stood up and grabbing her hands, I pulled her up with me. "C'mon, let's go out to dinner. I feel like some soul food. How about Pino's?"

She ran her hand up my chest and around the back of my neck, pulling my head down to hers. "I don't like fighting with you, D."

Her soft lips met mine in the sweetest of kisses. Returning the kiss, I could feel myself hardening and if I didn't stop, we wouldn't make it out to eat anytime soon. "I don't like fighting with you, either. Let's try not to do that again. Please?"

She let an absurdly happy chuckle escape. "Definitely don't want to do that again. But then again," she smiled slyly at me, "arguing does have some benefits… like making up." She let go of me and walked towards the hall, glancing back over her shoulder, she raised her brows. "You coming? I thought you mentioned something about Pino's?"

"Yeah. Let's go." I grabbed my jacket and then her hand. Two seconds later, we were in a secluded corner of the parking lot at Pino's. It's handy being an Unmentionable, especially when you're hungry.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

I woke up wrapped in Diesel's arms, which was a good thing because I was beginning to think that the gloss had rubbed off our relationship.

It was late when we came home from Pino's the previous night. We'd fallen into bed and apart from a perfunctory kiss good night, we hadn't indulged in any of our normal activities. How often did other couples do it? I had nothing to compare our track record with. The only other time I'd lived with someone for anywhere near this length of time, was when I was shackled to the Dick, and sex with him was sporadic from the very beginning.

I rolled over within the circle of Diesel's arms to face him, only to find him watching me.

"Morning." I smiled at him and he pulled me closer and kissed me lightly on the lips.

"Good morning, hon." I could feel his hands starting to caress my spine, sending tiny little chills throughout my body and raising goose bumps on my skin. I pulled my arms out from under the covers and brought his head back down to mine for another kiss.

The evidence of his continued interest in me was hard against my hip, and I relaxed into his arms with the knowledge that things were still all right.

"Want to save some water this morning?" Diesel asked suggestively as his very talented hands caressed my bare skin.

I could think of nothing I'd rather do than shower with him. "Oh, yeah. I think I need some serious washing. It might even take several attempts to get me completely clean."

Diesel got out of bed and reached out for my hand to pull me up. Just as I put my hand in his, my cell phone rang. I rolled my eyes at him and reached over to the night table to pick it up.

Glancing at the readout, I rolled my eyes again and answered the call. "Good morning, Mom."

"Stephanie, you have to help me out this morning." My mom sounded more than a little harassed. "You're grandmother needs to cash her social security check, but your father won't take her to the bank and she's threatening to take the Buick. You know she's had her license revoked."

I could hear shouting in the background; it sounded like my father and grandmother were about to start a war.

"I'll take her. Tell her to calm down and I'll take her."

"She's going to be the death of me yet. You should see what she's wearing!" I ran my free hand through my hair as I imagined my mom's frantic efforts to persuade Grandma to tone down her attire.

"I'm not sure I want to, but I guess I'm going to. I'll be there in about an hour."

"Hurry and I'll have breakfast ready for you. There's enough for Diesel too if he comes with you."

I looked over at Diesel, he was grinning at me. He couldn't possibly have heard my mom's side of the conversation but I guessed that he wouldn't turn down one of my mom's breakfasts. "He'll be coming with me, Mom."

I disconnected and walked over to Diesel. Molding my body to his, I grinned saucily at him. "I assumed you wouldn't say no to one of my mom's breakfasts, however, we're going to have to take a rain check on that joint shower."

"Figured. You go first; I'll get the coffee started." I skipped away from him before he could smack my butt as I made my way to the bathroom.

A little over two hours later, I was driving my CR-V and trying not to let the day-glow orange and pink nightmare sitting in the passenger seat distract my concentration from the road.

Grandma Mazur had obviously been taking fashion lessons from Lula. Unfortunately, where Lula could look good in fluorescent colors because of her skin tone, Grandma just looked like the undead trying to get noticed. She was wearing a luminous orange sweat suit with Barbie pink stripes that ran down the seams. Across her withered chest, emblazoned in rhinestones, was the legend "Hot Mama".

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grandma turn towards me with a grin on her wizened face. "How's that magical hunk you're living with?"

"If you're talking about Diesel, then he's good."

"No, I meant, what's he like? Does that package of his live up to expectation? And what about his magic, does that add a, you know, an extra dimension?"

"Grandma!" I could feel a blush starting on my cheeks. "I'm not going to tell you intimate details of our relationship! And what do you mean 'magic'?"

"I saw a lot more than you think I did when we were in Atlantic City."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Realizing I had to throw her a bone, I continued. "But I do love him, and if that's what you call magic, then yes it does add an extra dimension."

I saw her shake her head and grin. I sincerely doubted that was the last I'd hear on the subject. I made a mental note to talk to Diesel about being more subtle when using his powers around my family. I had a feeling that Grandma was going to be watching him very closely in the future.

To help me concentrate on my driving I diverted my thoughts to what Diesel had told me as he left my mom's house. He'd opted not to join me on my excursion, but instead had gone to meet someone who would be his possible back-up on the Steward case. I wondered if his back-up was another Unmentionable or someone in law-enforcement who was a trusted confidant of Diesel's world. I should say 'our' world really, but I still hadn't gotten my head around the fact that I was now part of that extra-ordinary existence.

I was thankful that the drive to the bank wasn't longer as I pulled into a space right outside the bank. For once, the parking gods were watching out for me. Grandma and I piled out of the vehicle and I followed in the wake of the Roman candle into the bank. My eyes were riveted to her butt. I had thought the "Hot Mama" on her chest was bad, but across her butt, the rhinestones spelled out "Sexy Mama". If I met anyone I knew while I was with her, I hoped the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

The bank wasn't particularly crowded and Grandma made a beeline for the shortest line. Once in position, she started to dig around in her oversized purse. I assumed she was looking for her check. I tried to look like I didn't know her and stood to one side watching the other customers. A man at one of the counters caught my eye. There was something familiar about him. I could only see him from behind, but my spidey-sense was zinging off the charts.

I kept Grandma in sight as I edged my way around the lines at the tellers. Eventually I found a spot where I could watch both the man at the counter and Grandma. Unfortunately, the man turned away from me and I still couldn't see his face.

Grandma was now pulling things out of her bag. While trying to extract the envelope, which held her social security check out of the depths of her purse, she managed to spill some of the bits and pieces that she carried around with her. A packet of breath mints hit the floor closely followed by, what I was sure was a packet of condoms. Then my heart sank as I saw her pull out her .45. She looked over to where I was standing, caught me watching her, and brandished her gun at me with a grin. In an instant, pandemonium broke out in the bank.

Obviously, someone had seen Grandma's gun and had set off the alarm. The man at the counter turned as soon as the alarm started to ring and I saw his face. My spidey-sense had been in good working order. It _was_ Steward.

Women were screaming, children were crying and men were shouting and remonstrating with Grandma. Steward had something in his hand. It was a bag; and using the distraction, was making good his escape.

I didn't think twice, I just took off after him. He shot out of the bank and up the street with me in pursuit. The guy was in good shape and he set a fast pace. I saw him glance over his shoulder and I immediately started to doubt my ability to catch him.

Steward was still running full tilt when he turned into an alley. I followed, keeping him in sight. I was so intent on not losing him that I failed to see the garbage cans.

Plowing into the cans, I fell heavily onto my hands and knees in garbage, and I wondered briefly how I could fail to see such large trashcans. My musings came to an abrupt halt when I felt the stabbing pain in my knee. Rolling over sideways into more garbage in order to take the weight off my knee, I inspected the damage.

The knees of my jeans were ripped and I was pretty sure I was bleeding, but a full examination of the extent of my injuries would have to wait until I could strip off my pants.

By the time I'd struggled to my feet, Steward had disappeared. I gave myself a mental head slap, amazed at my stupidity. The man was an Unmentionable, he'd probably popped away. And damn it, I was an Unmentionable too. I could've avoided the garbage so easily.

I staggered out of the alley and painfully found my way back to the bank. My step faltered somewhat when I saw the police cars outside the building. But it wasn't the patrol vehicles that made me sigh with relief. It was the black SUV that was parked across from the First Trenton Loan & Trust that gave me that feeling.

If I couldn't have Diesel there to sort out the mess that Grandma had gotten herself into, then Ranger was a good second best.

The man himself was leaning against the hood of a police car, arms folded across his chest. Just behind him, Grandma was arguing with the cop who was trying to get her into his squad car. From the snatches of conversation that wafted over to me, I figured that Grandma had somehow mislaid her condoms or her breath mints in the bank.

I ducked into the bank and a quick scan of the floor around the teller area produced a packet of cherry flavored condoms. What is it about cherry flavored condoms? Lula always carried them too.

I palmed the package and returned to the blue and white.

"Here you go, Grandma." I tried to pass the condoms to her surreptitiously, but Grandma had other ideas. She grabbed the packet and waved them around.

"Thank you Stephanie, dear. I would have been so upset to lose these. I've got my eye on a real hottie at the bingo hall."

I could feel my face burning with embarrassment. I was certain that Ranger was watching and listening.

He wandered over and glanced at the package clutched in Grandma's fingers. He raised a questioning eyebrow at me. "I thought you preferred strawberry, Babe."

I sputtered, unable to form a coherent thought, let alone a retort.

"Babe." He raised his hand and picking some spaghetti out of my hair, his eyes went serious. All humor gone, I was mesmerized by his gaze. Suddenly I felt as if he was looking into my soul and I had a fleeting sense of sadness for what might have been.

I gave myself a mental shake and glanced over towards where Grandma had now settled into the back seat of the blue and white. Grandma was definitely not unhappy about being arrested. I turned back to Ranger and raised my eyebrows in an unspoken question.

"She's been arrested for carrying concealed and without a license."

I stumbled over to the wall of the bank and slumped against the bricks. "My mother is never going to forgive me. I can't even keep Grandma out of trouble on a simple trip to the bank. I guess I'd better follow her to the station and call Connie to bond her out." I tried to straighten up but my right leg gave way and I grabbed onto Ranger to stop myself from falling. His strong arms held on to me and then guided me back over to the police car.

"No need, Babe. Ram'll do that and then he'll take your grandmother home. We should get that knee seen to."

I looked down and, to my horror, saw that my jeans were now a dark rust color from the knee down.

Leaning heavily on Ranger, I reached the car in which Grandma was sitting. She looked fit to burst with excitement. "Grandma, it looks like I got a little cut up and I'm going to have to get it sorted out." I gave her a weak smile. I indicated the gorgeous male specimen in RangeMan black who was standing by the equally black SUV. "Ram will follow you and get you bonded out, and then he'll take you home."

Grandma looked across the road at Ram then turned back to me. "Oh no. I don't want to go home. I want to go to the Clip 'n Curl. The girls are going to bust their corsets when they hear I've been arrested." She could hardly sit still she was so elated by her good luck! "And when I turn up with one of those hunky Rangemen in tow, well I'm gonna be the center of attention for weeks."

I couldn't help but grin at Grandma's exuberance. My mother was definitely going to kill me.

As I watched Grandma being driven away I swayed a little and started to feel faint as the pain in my leg began to take root. Ranger swiftly put one arm around my shoulders, his other under my legs and carried me over to my CR-V, despite my feeble protests that I could walk. He set me down next to the vehicle and using my keys, he unlocked it. I gave him a look as he lowered me into the passenger seat, wondering just how and when he'd managed to obtain my keys. Then again, this was Ranger, nothing about him should surprise me anymore.

He closed my door and I buckled myself in, watching him as he walked around to the driver's side. I loved Diesel, but there would always be a connection between Ranger and me, and it saddened me just a little to think of what we would never have.

Not wanting Ranger to be able to do his ESP on my thoughts, I closed my eyes as he climbed into the driver's seat. "I don't suppose you're going to just drive me home. My knee may hurt, but I'm sure it's not really that bad. I just need to get off of it for awhile…"

"Babe." Was all Ranger said as he pulled out of the parking spot, and I knew the argument was over before I could even get it started.

We were almost at the hospital before Ranger spoke again.

"Who were you after?"

"A guy named Rob Steward. He's not local. FTA on a disturbing the peace charge." I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes. My knee was throbbing and the pain was starting to interfere with my thoughts.

"He may not be local, Babe, but I've heard of him. He's not as harmless as he seems. Heard some bad things about him. Be careful."

I opened my eyes and glanced at Ranger's face. Why was I not surprised that he had his blank face in place?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

I knew the moment she'd gotten hurt.

The problem with the psychic connection that we have is that I have no idea how badly she gets hurt. I didn't feel any fear from her, so I knew that even though she was hurt, she wasn't in any further danger.

I popped to her location, materializing in a secluded corner of the parking lot, and walked into the emergency room. The clerk at the desk indicated where I could find Steph, but I really hadn't needed to ask. The muscle-bound man dressed all in black, standing guard outside one of the curtained cubicles, was an obvious clue to her whereabouts.

I nodded briefly at him before pulling aside the curtain. I entered to find Steph lying on the bed and Ranger straddling the only chair, his arms folded on the back. He nodded at me, stood up and came closer to the bed. I felt a small stab of jealousy as he leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Steph's forehead.

"You're in good hands now, Babe." He turned to leave, but as he passed me he quietly said, "Steward." I nodded once, to show I'd understood and he slipped out through the curtain.

Stephanie's eyes were slightly unfocussed and I assumed they had given her some painkillers. A quick glance told me that she'd hurt her leg, if the state of her jeans was anything to go by. I perched on the edge of the bed and took hold of her hand.

"What happened? I thought you were just taking Grandma to the bank?"

"I was." She crinkled her brows as if trying to remember. "I did. But Grandma...she pulled her gun out of her bag...looking for her check." Her speech was a little slurred, and my earlier assumptions were confirmed, she was definitely on some kind of pain medication. "Someone must have hit the panic alarm." She closed her eyes as if picturing the scene. "Steward was in the bank. I think...he must have been persuading the teller to give him money...but he ran when the alarm sounded. I didn't think...I just chased after him."

"How did you get hurt? Did he do anything to you?"

She shook her head, and I could tell her mind was starting to clear a little. "I chased him into an alley...but I didn't see the trashcans. I ran straight into them." She looked towards her knee. "I fell on some glass. Cut my knee up pretty badly.

I stroked the back of her hand with my thumb. "How bad, exactly?"

"I think they had to take out quite a lot of glass." She looked up at me and guessed at what I was going to say. "I know. I should have popped away the second I hit them. I didn't think. I'm sorry."

Her eyes watered up and a tear escaped running back into her hair. Now I knew for sure she wasn't completely herself. It had to be the drugs affecting her this way. The woman lying in that bed would normally be mad at herself, not feeling sorry.

I leaned down and touched my lips to hers, before sitting back up. "You've got nothing to be sorry for. Certainly not to me. Yes, you didn't have to get hurt, but you were thinking of Steward and catching him. You were distracted. Besides, it's highly likely he used mind control on you and you really didn't see the trashcans until you hit them."

"Wouldn't I have felt him, if he'd been in my head?"

"Not necessarily, you were chasing him and, as I said, you were distracted. Perhaps you didn't expect him to try something like that." I smoothed her hair back from her forehead trying to soothe her.

A nurse entered the cubicle just as I was about to kiss Steph again. I pulled back quickly and turned to the woman with the clipboard in her hands.

"Ms. Plum can leave now." She spoke to me as if Steph wasn't even in the room. "She mustn't drive because of the meds she's taken. And then wait at least another 24-48 hours before driving again; otherwise she might risk pulling a stitch or two." She glanced around once and then focused back on me. "Will you be driving her home?" I got the distinct feeling she was disappointed to find me there instead of Ranger.

"Yes, I'll be taking her home." I turned back to the bed and gently tugged at Steph's hand to pull her into a sitting position. She signed the form that the nurse handed to her, and the woman left us alone. I picked Steph up and held her cradled to my chest. With a quick look to make certain the curtains around the cubicle were completely closed and that we weren't observed, I popped us both back to our apartment.

We arrived in the bedroom, and I reluctantly relinquished Steph to the comfort of the bed.

"Thank you, but my car is still at the hospital, unless Ranger took it." She lay back against the pillows and sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "I think I should try to sleep off these pain meds. They're making me so dopey."

"Good idea. And while you're napping I'll check with Ranger about your car and, if I need to, I'll pop back to the hospital and collect it." I briefly stroked her temple smoothing the soft hair with my fingers and I leaned down to kiss her forehead. I had a sudden memory of Ranger doing the same thing. "I love you." She smiled sleepily without responding and closed her eyes.

Trying not to jostle her leg, I gently slipped off her sneakers and unzipped her jeans, pulling them carefully over her stitched knee. I covered her with the comforter and then glanced out the window to see if her car had magically appeared in the lot. Not seeing it there, I popped back to the hospital.

**oo000oo**

I awoke slowly. The warmth and comfort of the bed enveloped me, making me reluctant to surface from the depths of slumber. I hefted the covers back up over my shoulder but after a few minutes, I realized I had no chance of reclaiming my former sleeping state, so I stretched.

I immediately regretted that action. The movement had stretched the skin taut on my leg and the pain was instantaneous and sharp. Memory flooded back. Stitches. My damn knee had stitches in it.

Gingerly I maneuvered my legs over the side of the bed and sat on the edge. I listened to see if Diesel was home but the apartment was silent. I stood up slowly and tested my knee to see if it would take my weight. I found I could walk, or rather hobble, if I favored my right leg. Deciding that I didn't want to stay in bed all day, at least not alone, I went in search of Diesel and coffee, not necessarily in that order.

My man had obviously left earlier and decided against waking me. That was okay, but it was odd that he hadn't left a note. He normally leaves me little love notes stuck to the refrigerator. It didn't bother me too much that it interfered with my normal routine of coffee and shower, but it was unlike him.

The phone rang as I was about to get into the shower; I let the machine get it because I couldn't have gotten there in time before it picked up anyway. I heard my friend Mary Lou's voice, as she left a long and involved message about Grandma and the beauty salon.

With a full tank of caffeine and a clean body, I sat down to think about what I should do next. Diesel had asked me to leave Steward to him. Thinking back to my abortive chase the day before, I figured Steward had had a hand, or rather a mind, in me not seeing those trashcans. Yes, he was dangerous. Apparently, Diesel had been right about one more thing, being an Unmentionable was no defense against him.

What I needed to do was to catch him when he was least expecting it. That much was obvious. To do that I needed more research. I thought I would start out at the office, and if I needed more powerful search programs, I could go to RangeMan.

I contemplated driving for all of five seconds before picking up my purse and willing myself to the alley next to the bonds office.

Lula was actually doing some filing when I entered the office. Her behind was in danger of bursting the seams on her lurid orange skintight pants. Connie was talking on the phone but she disconnected soon after I shut the door.

Lula stopped mid-file and turned towards me. "Hey Girlfriend? How's your leg? I heard you had a run-in with a trash can."

"Well I heard you rolled in garbage and stank out the E.R." Connie was tuned into the Burg grapevine, but this time it had gotten its wires crossed.

I grinned at two of my best friends. "Yeah, it was garbage but I didn't roll in it. Not this time. I fell on some broken glass and cut my knee up some." I gestured towards Connie's computer. "Can I use your search programs?"

"Sure. Knock yourself out." She got up to give me her chair.

Watching the computer run search programs is not the most interesting of pastimes, so to kill time I got up to get a cup of coffee. Sitting down next to Connie on the couch, I idly watched her paint her nails whore red.

Connie glanced up at me and gestured with the nail varnish. My nails were in terrible condition after scrabbling around in the garbage the day before, so I shook my head. Connie shrugged and continued to stroke the tiny brush over her perfectly manicured nails. "How's your grandma? She okay after getting arrested?"

"It's the best thing that's happened to her all year." I glanced at Lula who had taken another pile of files off the top of the cabinet and had started to sort them. "Ram took her to the Clip 'n Curl after they left the station. That was the icing on the cake.

"Mary Lou called this morning. Apparently, her aunt had been under the dryer when Grandma arrived yesterday. The old crones there couldn't get enough of Ram. Poor man, I'll have to try to make it up to him someday. Grandma was in her element."

Lula turned around from the filing cabinets and perched herself on the corner of Connie's desk. "Last night, after Tank and I finished doing the deed, we were lying there and talking, you know, like you do. Well, I don't know if you do, but we do. Anyway, my point is, he said that Ranger paid Grandma's bond. Is that right?"

I nodded.

"I wonder how you're gonna pay that back." She picked up her purse and started to root around inside it, obviously looking for something. "I've got some cherry flavored condoms here somewhere. You'll need them if you have to pay it back the way I think you'll have to."

"What is it with cherry flavored condoms? What does the flavor matter? They're just latex." I shook my head. "Grandma swears by them too. She wouldn't get into the police car until she found the ones she'd lost. I had to run back into the bank to look for her hot cherry flavored ones she'd dropped when the alarm went off yesterday."

"Always knew your grandma had good taste." Lula nodded her head vigorously making the beads on her braids click.

"Look, condoms aside. That form of repayment is no longer an option, not that it ever was. I won't cheat on Diesel."

Connie, who by this time had started on her toenails, looked up at me with an incredulous expression on her face. "You mean if Batman offered, you wouldn't take it? That, I don't believe!"

Before Diesel and I became an item, I had bounced between Joe and Ranger like a ping-pong ball. Would I still go to Ranger if he beckoned? I didn't think so. However, I really didn't want to test that theory.

I shook my head but was saved from answering by the dinging of the computer program indicating that it had finished its search. Sitting back down at Connie's desk, I checked out the results.

It didn't take long for me to realize that Connie's programs hadn't found anything new on Steward. I needed a program that could dig deeper. Looked like I was going to have to go RangeMan after all, since their search programs could go where others only dreamed of going.

Connie perched on the corner of her desk, swinging her feet to dry her newly painted toenails. "Uh oh. You keep frowning like that, those creases'll become permanent. Something wrong with my computer?"

I smoothed my fingers over my forehead, anxious to delay the onset of wrinkles. "Nothing wrong with your computer, it's working just fine. But I need a stronger search program. Damn, it looks like I've got to go to RangeMan."

Lula stopped what she was doing and crossing her arms, stared at me. "And why wouldn't you be happy with that? I'd jump at the chance to see Tank during work hours."

"I know you would Lula, but I won't find Diesel at RangeMan, now will I?" I let out a groan of frustration. "I'm pissed because I'm supposed to be keeping off my leg, and if Ranger catches me he's gonna give me all kinds of grief. Knowing him, he'll probably threaten to call Diesel."

Lula shrugged and went over to the window. "Don't see your wheels out front. You want a ride?"

"Nah, it's okay, I parked round back. Thanks though." I picked up my purse and hobbled toward the back door. "See ya." I waved without looking back. Once the door was firmly shut behind me, I slipped around the corner and into the alley. I made sure no one could see me before I closed my eyes and willed myself to the alley across from RangeMan.

I staggered a little when I materialized and thanked the Lord that my aim had been true. I had arrived at the back of the alley, well out of sight of the RangeMan security cameras. I regained my balance and walked towards the opening between the two buildings.

Just as I was about to turn onto Haywood I caught sight of a black Jaguar coming out of the underground garage of Ranger's building. I quickly pulled back into the shadows; I didn't want Ranger to see me.

For some reason, though, I felt the need to watch the vehicle as it exited the ramp, so I poked my head around the corner. Then I knew why I'd needed to watch. Ranger wasn't at the wheel. I'd recognize that blond head anywhere. I'd run my fingers through that hair more times than I could count.

Why the Hell was Diesel visiting RangeMan, and why hadn't he told me he was going there?

The way I saw it, I had two choices. Ask Diesel or ask Ranger. I really didn't want to do either, but I felt compelled to find out why Diesel was visiting RangeMan. I had no idea where Diesel was going or where he'd gotten that black Jaguar. However, I had already intended to go to RangeMan to use their computers, so I crossed the street and entered the building by way of the underground garage.

As I waited for the elevator, I hung my RangeMan badge around my neck. Ranger had tightened security in the building a while back, and all entrances now had a sensor against which you had to hold your badge in order to open them. Some doors within the building had similar locks. I hadn't tried my badge on all of them yet, however, I was sure that there were a few that would remain closed, no matter how much I waved my badge at them.

The elevator finally arrived and I rode it up to the fifth floor. When the doors opened with a ding, I walked towards my cube. I saw Tank coming out of Ranger's office and said a distracted hello to him. All desire to do a further in-depth search on Steward suddenly dried up. "Hey Tank, is he in?"

"Yep. He's on the phone, but you can go in."

"Thanks." I opened the door and slipped inside. I lifted my hand in greeting when Ranger looked up at the interruption. Smiling, he pointed to the sofa. I sat down and took a deep breath. What was I going to say? Should I just come straight out and say 'What was my boyfriend doing here?' Nah. I had to be more subtle than that.

I looked over at Ranger as I heard him hanging up the phone. "What was my boyfriend doing here?" So much for subtle, my mouth seemed to have a mind of its own.

"Babe?"

"Er... I mean... Oh Hell! I saw Diesel driving away and he never said he was coming here. In fact, he left before I woke up this morning. Why wouldn't he tell me he was coming here? I mean he could have left a note." I sounded like I was whining, probably because I was.

"Don't you think you should be asking him?"

"I was coming here anyway, and you're here now and he isn't." My mind was working overtime. Little bits of conversations were coming together like pieces of a puzzle. Diesel saying he'd arranged for back-up because Steward was too dangerous for him to handle on his own. Ranger whispering something to Diesel in the ER and Diesel's answering nod. Ranger knowing Steward was dangerous and warning her to be careful. Instantly the puzzle was solved; all the pieces slotted together.

"If it's about Rob Steward, then Diesel's not being very forthcoming with information. He wants me to leave Steward to him. He thinks that because Steward is an Unmentionable I won't be able to handle him. But I've handled dangerous FTAs before and now I'm more than capable of holding my own against someone like him. I'm tired of people lying to me and keeping me in the dark." I realized as soon as I finished speaking that I'd said too much. Ranger wasn't supposed to know details about our world. I pretended to find the pattern on the carpet incredibly interesting, in the hope that he wouldn't notice my slip.

A pair of black boots suddenly obscured my view of the fascinating pattern. A finger gently caressed the underside of my chin before applying pressure and raising my face. I tried to keep my eyes trained on his boots, but the force of his will seeped into my mind and I had to meet his gaze.

"Is he treating you well? Are you still happy? Do you still love him?" I didn't even pretend not to know who the 'he' in question was.

"So many questions..."

"Answer me."

"Yes he treats me well. Yes I still love him." I tried to look away but I was mesmerized by his gaze.

Were Diesel and I moving apart? I didn't want that to happen. Or did I? Was this some kind of defense mechanism that's programmed into my mind? Fight or flight?

"You didn't answer all my questions. Are you still happy?"

"Y...yes. Yes, I... we're still happy. Okay. Are _you_ happy now?" It was a mistake to be alone with Ranger. I've found that I can't shut my mind to him. Unbidden, emotions flooded into my mind. I felt his every emotion. And right then, what he was feeling hurt me deep in my soul. That I could cause him such pain was killing me. I stood up suddenly, making him step back. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come."

"Babe. I meant what I said earlier. You need to talk to Diesel."

I managed to nod before I stumbled out of the room.

I must have left the building because the next thing I knew I was back in the alley opposite RangeMan. I leaned against the rough brick of the wall. Oh God, I hope I walked out. I hope I didn't disappear in full view of a camera and reappear over here. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my apartment and popped home.

Silence met me when I materialized in my living room. I found my cell and dialed Diesel's number it didn't even ring before it went to voicemail. Either he'd switched off his phone or he was out of range.

I was so confused. Diesel wasn't sharing. He'd never held back information before, and I was starting to get a little paranoid. Why did all the men in my life keep secrets from me? I knew Joe had. He'd never shared any information on his cases, and that had sometimes put me in danger. Ranger was another who didn't share. Hell even Dickhead hadn't. Though his secrets weren't secret for long.

I wandered into the bedroom and flopped down on the bed in my thinking position. I stared up at the crack in the ceiling while I thought of Ranger. The blast of emotion that had stolen into my mind while I was in his office had been a surprise. I knew that he had loved me. If I'd given it any thought at all, I guess I'd assumed he'd given up the chase. Now I knew he hadn't. Now I knew he still loved me and seeing me with Diesel was killing him.

I guess I could understand how he felt. What I couldn't figure out, was how I felt about him. Once upon a time, I would have jumped at the chance to be with Ranger. Now, I was with Diesel. I loved Diesel. Didn't I? Yes I did. I was sure that I did. At least, I thought I was sure. But did Diesel love me? If he did, why would he be keeping information from me... important information? Why didn't he tell me he was working with Ranger?

My confused thoughts just kept whirling around and around in my mind.

The sound of the front door opening and closing woke me from a deep sleep. Memories of my dreams made me disorientated. Images of Ranger and Diesel jousting like knights of old swirled around in my head. I sat up on the edge of the bed and cradled my head in my hands, slowly the images receded and the present came into focus. Diesel. Diesel was home.

I tried to decide whether to go out to greet him or not. I wasn't happy with him, but I wanted to give him a chance to explain himself. Diesel took the decision out of my hands and came into the bedroom.

"Hey Steph, you're up and dressed. How are you feeling?" He came over, sat next to me and kissed my cheek. It's so difficult staying angry with him, but I stiffened my spine and tried to mentally distance myself from him.

"I'm feeling back to normal apart from a tight feeling in the skin around the stitches." I avoided his gaze and stared down at my feet. "I've had a very interesting day. I decided to go to Vinnie's to see if I could find anything more on Steward. You know, more background to help you find him."

"There was no need to do that. We have ways of tracking down our own."

"Yeah, like using innocent outsiders, like you used me."

"You were never an outsider. You just didn't know you were special yet."

"Well, now that I know why won't you use me? Let me help."

Diesel shrugged and sidestepped the question. "Did you find anything new on him?"

"The search program didn't turn up anything new so I went to RangeMan to use their computer. Guess what, or rather who, I saw as I was leaving the alley opposite Ranger's building." I looked up at Diesel and caught a glimpse of anger in his eyes.

"You were told to stay off that leg. Why on earth don't you listen to good advice?"

"It's a damn good thing I didn't listen to the doctor's advice. If I had I wouldn't have had a most enlightening experience." I felt that physical distance as well as mental distance was needed in order to say what I had to. I stood up quickly and started to pace. Unfortunately, my knee had stiffened up and it started to buckle under me. Diesel reached out to steady me but I held up my hands to stop him.

"Don't touch me. Just don't touch me. Why were you at RangeMan?"

"What makes you think I was at RangeMan?"

"Because I saw you drive away, that's why. Ranger's the back-up that you've arranged, isn't he? Don't you think I should have been brought into the loop on this one?" My knee had eased up and I'd started to pace for real. "Don't you dare say you were trying to protect me. That's just an excuse you men use not to tell the 'little woman' something important. I'm sick and tired of the men in my life making sure I have the mushroom syndrome – keep me in the dark and feed me shit! First Joe, then Ranger, now you! Damn it, even the Dickhead kept secrets from me. Although his didn't stay secret for long after I became an audience to his habits in my very own dining room!"

Diesel didn't say anything; he just sat there watching me wear a track in the carpet.

"You should have trusted me. You could have told me about Ranger's involvement. That he knows about our world. A relationship is built on trust, Diesel. Love is built on trust. You asked me to marry you. How the Hell can I marry you if you don't trust me?" I blinked to hold in the tears that had sprung to my eyes. Tears of anger and, yes, of sadness. And all of a sudden I ran out of steam. I stopped and looked at Diesel, silently willing him to say something, anything in his defense.

"I do trust you, Steph, but it was a need-to-know situation, and at that point you didn't need to know."

"Need to know!" My voice rose an octave. "Need to know my ass. You didn't want me to know. There's a difference. You asked me to stay out of it."

"Which you didn't do anyway." He looked pointedly at my injured knee.

"I acted on impulse. That's not the same as not staying out of it. Besides, he's technically my FTA."

Diesel crossed his arms. "Who I asked you to back away from because I care about you. You aren't fully trained and you are nowhere near equipped to deal with someone of his caliber."

That was it. Joe had always doubted my ability to take care of myself. But I thought Diesel was different. Now I knew the truth. "Get out," I spat. "I don't think I can stand to be around you at the moment. Get out."

"I'll go. But know this, Stephanie. I love you. And I'm not going to giving up on us."

As he started to dematerialize, I yelled "And where did you get that black Jag? That's another thing you didn't tell me about."

Silence.

My legs gave way and I sat down heavily in the chair in the corner of the bedroom. The tears came fast and furious now. What had I done? Had I just ruined the best relationship I'd ever had? Through a throat thick with tears, I choked out a watery, "I love you too."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

I drove away from Steph's in a maelstrom of emotion. I wasn't sure if the uppermost feeling was anger or sorrow. Didn't she realize that it's because I love her so much that I want to protect her? If Steward wanted to, he could fry her brain and she would spend the rest of her life as nothing more than a vegetable. Maybe that was part of the problem. I hadn't really told her just what kind of damage Steward was capable of. I'd only touched on the basics.

I pulled into a local motel and parked the Jag. It was good to be behind the wheel of my baby again. I'd lent it to a good friend to care for after I found Sandy Claws. I really didn't need it in my job. But now that I was living with Steph and leading a semi-normal life, I needed wheels, and since I had to track Steward down, I'd asked for it back.

Was I still living with Steph? I wanted to be. The question was did she still want to be with me?

I rented a room and then decided to go see Ranger; I needed to know exactly what had gone down at RangeMan after Steph saw me drive away.

Before materializing in Ranger's office, I checked to make sure he was alone. He was, so I allowed him to see me. The only reaction Ranger gave to my sudden appearance was a raised eyebrow. The man certainly is controlled.

Since Ranger didn't seem inclined to even say hello, I decided to get the ball rolling. "I understand you had a visitor today."

"She talked to you." Ranger knew Steph well enough to know that she would have immediately confronted me over my presence at RangeMan today.

"I would say she shouted rather than talked." I looked accusingly at Ranger. "What did you tell her?"

"Nothing. She already seemed to know everything."

"Yeah. She has uncanny instincts. Even without her empathic powers she can read people like books." I went over to the sofa and made myself comfortable.

Steepling his fingers together, Ranger leaned back in his chair, and peered at me through half closed eyes. "You know she's not going to be able to stay away from it. She's going to go after Steward no matter what you tell her."

"I know," I nodded. "I have a couple of leads to follow up on tomorrow. Grandma Mazur has her court date – will you look after Steph for me?"

Ranger opened his eyes fully and I got the impression that he was trying to find an ulterior motive in my request. "You want me to babysit her?"

"In essence, yeah."

"You trust me with her?"

I thought about that for a fraction of second. "Yes. I do."

"I wouldn't." He was silent for a beat before surprising me with his next question. "Do you need a place to stay?"

"How...?"

"I'm also good at reading people."

"No, I'm fixed for the night, thanks." I stood up and walked over to Ranger's desk. Putting my hands flat on his desk, I leaned forward. "Don't let her get too close to Steward if he comes after her. I don't want anything to happen to her."

"Neither do I."

I straightened up, nodded at him and popped straight to my motel room. I sat down on the bed and looked around at the dingy room. Without warning the loneliness and silence crashed down on me. I flopped back on the bed and thought about Steph. I couldn't visualize my life without her in it.

How the Hell had things gotten so screwed up so fast. Only yesterday we were playfully bantering with each other over coffee. Now, here I was, alone in a motel room, with no real idea of why. Well, okay, maybe I had some idea. This relationship gig was new to me. Hell, I thought, as I beat the bed with my fist, being in love was a totally new experience. Before Steph entered my life, I'd happily made the acquaintance of any female that happened to be in whichever city I was currently in, conveniently forgetting them the second I left.

Then again, being with Steph was a totally new experience in itself. She may have great instincts but she always landed herself in trouble. Which was the number one reason why I really wanted to keep her away from Steward. He wasn't just trouble, he was dangerous trouble. And somehow, I had a feeling that this whole mess with Steph might bounce back to him.

Looking around the empty room, I let out a long groan. Steward wasn't going to win this one. I'd meant what I had said before I'd left our apartment. I'd told her I wasn't going to give up on us, and I'd meant it. My home was with her. I refused to accept that she'd kicked me out of her life for good.

Now I knew I was going to fight for her...for our future; the only question was – how to get our relationship back on track.

**oo000oo**

For the second morning in a row, I woke without the comforting warm presence of Diesel in my bed. For a moment, I wondered where he was, and then the memory of the previous night came flooding in. Where had he slept? Had he stayed in a motel or perhaps with an old friend or even worse, an old girl friend? I smothered a sob. One thing I knew for certain, I missed him. And deep down I also knew that while I couldn't completely trust him on some things, I knew he wouldn't cheat on me.

I sensed the loss of his presence in my mind as well as in my bed. I'd gotten so used to feeling his emotions. I didn't have to open myself to him anymore, he was just... there. The phone rang before the feeling of loss could properly take hold. Groaning, I rolled over and answered it.

"Stephanie?" I covered my eyes with my free hand and let my head fall back on the pillow. My mother's voice was not the voice I wanted to hear this morning. I wanted to hear D's voice saying 'Good morning, sunshine.'

"Good morning, Mom."

"How's your leg today?" From the tone of her voice, I could tell she was concerned. Concerned was good. "I ask because your grandmother has her court date today and I was hoping you could take her. Your father is refusing to."

"I'm supposed to stay off of it as much as possible and I'm not allowed to drive."

"Oh okay. I don't suppose Diesel could...?"

"Um... no Mom, Diesel's very busy today, er, in fact he's already left." I did some quick thinking. "I'll try and get someone to give us a ride." I heard some scuffling and Grandma came on the line.

"I want to go to the Clip 'n Curl first. You never know, I might get a judge who's a real unattached hottie. Judge's don't retire do they?"

I rolled my eyes. "I think that's just Supreme Court judges, Grandma."

"Oh. Well, never mind. I still wanna look my best. I have an appointment at nine."

"Don't worry, Grandma. I'll get you there." I disconnected but stayed in my prone position. I could call Lula, but then I really didn't feel like explaining to her what had happened with Diesel. I wouldn't have to say anything – she'd know something was wrong by just looking at me. Plus, as much as I love her, I didn't think I could cope with her exuberance today. Ranger. I'd phone Ranger, if he couldn't help me, maybe one of his men would be free.

I needed a caffeine fix before I phoned him. I was pouring out my first cup of coffee when there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find the object of my earlier musings standing there.

I raised my eyebrows. "Since when do you knock? You usually just come straight in as if the door wasn't even locked."

"You're no longer a free agent, Babe."

"That's a matter of opinion." I muttered under my breath as I walked back to the kitchen.

Batman, however, had ears like the proverbial bat. "Don't be so sure."

His comment made me look back at him in surprise. He was corporate Ranger today. Ranger looks sexy, no matter what he wears. When he wears a suit and tie, he's gorgeous beyond imagination, and all thoughts of Diesel and my relationship with him flew out of my mind.

"Why are you all dressed up? Got a meeting?"

"Thought I'd drive you and your grandma to court," He glanced looked down at my knee. "Since you shouldn't be driving."

I looked at him suspiciously trying to figure out what his real reason was for coming to my apartment. Unfortunately, he had his blank face on as he went over to my coffee maker and helped himself to a cup of java. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and take his offer at face value until further evidence came to light.

"Thanks. Interestingly enough, I was just about to call you and ask if you or one of your men could help me out."

"I've cleared my calendar for the day. Go get ready so we can make sure your grandma gets to court on time." Ranger looked as if he was about to smirk, but the moment passed in a flash. "We don't want her going FTA. I'd have to pay my men danger money to go after her if she did."

I left him in the kitchen drinking his coffee while I went off to get intimately acquainted with a pair of panty hose and a business suit.

It was late afternoon when I finally made it home. Grandma's court appearance had had all the makings of a three-ring circus. She'd talked when she was supposed to be silent and had stayed mum when she was supposed to answer questions. Then she had the audacity to ask the judge for his phone number! If the ground had opened up and swallowed me, I wouldn't have been sorry!

Ranger had been wonderful. He'd asked his lawyer to handle the case and the attorney had met us at the court. It was only due to his expertise that Grandma had been allowed home with just a fine and the confiscation of her firearm. She'd been in contempt so many times during the proceedings that anyone else would've been thrown in jail and the key tossed into the river!

I entered my apartment and immediately thought that I'd entered the wrong one. The smell coming from the kitchen was heavenly. I dropped my purse on the kitchen table and peered into the oven to find lasagna just about ready to be served. I glanced into the dining room, and was surprised to see that the table was set with matching plates, candles and flowers.

It had to be Diesel; no one else would have done this. But I couldn't hear him in the apartment. I was changing into a pair of sweats when a fine collection of curse words filtered out of the kitchen. I went back to the kitchen and leaned on the doorframe. He had placed a bottle of Chianti on the counter. His back was to me and he was searching in the drawers for something.

After admiring the view of his tight ass for a few seconds, I took pity on him. "The corkscrew is in the drawer next to the refrigerator."

He pulled open the drawer and took out the corkscrew before turning to face me. "Are you going to tell me to get out again?"

"No." I gave him a half-smile. "At least not yet." Especially since he'd prepared one of my favorite dishes.

"Dinner's ready. Why don't you go and sit at the table and I'll bring it in."

I reached out and took the corkscrew from his hand, grabbed the bottle of wine and went to sit down at the table. The whole situation felt awkward to me. When Diesel followed with a bowl of green salad, I wasn't sure if I needed to apologize or if he did. Should we just ignore the fight, pretend it'd never happened? That would be my choice; I always preferred to go for denial.

I think Diesel also felt the tension in the air; he didn't say a word while he served the food before sitting down opposite me.

I sat there and stared at my food, I couldn't make an effort to pick up my fork.

"Diesel..."

"Steph..."

We both stopped and I laughed nervously, while he gave me a wry grin.

"Thank you for cooking this, it looks lovely."

"Lasagna is my idea of comfort food. Wine?"

"Um... yeah. Thanks."

I took a bite of the pasta and almost moaned. It was even better than my mother's. "Did you actually make this or did you order take-out from some fancy restaurant?"

"You wound me." The look on his face said that he was anything but wounded. "I made it. You know I love to cook."

"It's delicious." We continued to eat in silence for a while. The awkwardness settling on us again like a thick blanket.

Diesel cleared his throat, put down his fork and reached across the table to lightly touch my hand. "Steph. I should have kept you in the loop about Ranger. I should have realized you'd find out and be pissed." The rueful look he gave me made him look like an overgrown schoolboy. "We try to keep interaction with Normals to a minimum during our cases. However, Ranger's helped us out from time to time and he's been sworn to secrecy."

"Yeah, Ranger knows how to keep a secret. But I'm an Unmentionable so I should have been told. Especially since it was Ranger, and considering how often I work with the man." I looked down at my almost empty plate and tried to remember actually eating all of what had been there only moments before.

"I know. You're right. I promise not to forget that you're part of my world now."

We finished our food and took our wine over to the couch. I sat down, and stretched my feet out on the couch as I leaned against the arm of the sofa. Diesel sat at the other end and turned to face me.

"Where are we?"

I didn't even pretend to misunderstand. "I don't know, D. I really don't. I do know that your not trusting me, hurt."

He nodded. "I'm so used to working alone. Damn, I've always been alone. Oh yeah, there've been women, of course there have." I was surprised at the stab of jealousy that statement had given me. "But I've never lived with someone. Hell, I've never had a relationship with anyone that's gone past the first date."

"My relationship history hasn't exactly been a Harlequin Romance either."

Diesel gently lifted my legs and moved closer so he could place my feet on his lap. I relaxed back against the cushions while he started to massage first one foot then the other. "Can we try again?"

"I can't forget what happened, but I'm will to give it another go."

"I promise to tell you more about what I'm doing."

"And I promise not to kick you out again. Except for tonight."

He looked shocked and a little hurt by that statement. "I didn't like sleeping alone last night."

"Neither did I. And I didn't like waking up alone either. But if you stay here tonight we're going to make love."

Diesel gave me what could only be described as a pout. "I promise to behave."

I focused my gaze on the blank television screen. "Yes, but I can't. If I got into bed with you I doubt I'd be able to keep my hands to myself." I shook my head and turned to look at him. "Sex would just be a band-aid on the problem and we'll never really solve it that way." I smiled at him. "No, we should wait a bit before we resume normal programming."

Diesel gave a reluctant sigh. "I hate to have to say this, but you're right." He gave my feet a gentle squeeze before setting them aside and standing up. He stepped over to my end of the couch, leaned down and gave me the softest, sweetest kiss on the mouth, without even a hint of tongue. "I'll call you tomorrow. I love you." And then he was gone.

My chest constricted. I couldn't even run after him to tell him that I loved him too. Stupid Unmentionable powers. And damn, he'd left me with the dishes. Guess I'd asked for it, and really shouldn't complain since he had done all the cooking.

With perfect timing, the phone rang just as I'd finished loading the dishwasher.

"Yo."

"Babe."

"You don't hold the copyright on the word, Ranger."

I distinctly heard a chuckle. Oh my God. I made Ranger laugh!

"Babe. You never disappoint. Having a good evening?"

"It's okay." I really didn't want to discuss my love life or lack of it with Ranger. Besides, if I verbalized my feelings about Diesel, I felt I would jinx the whole deal.

"Have a job for you tomorrow, if you're interested."

I thought about it. I was interested, but was I really up for it. I stretched out my knee and glanced around my empty apartment. Oh the Hell with it. I needed something to take my mind off my relationship problems. "Sure. What kind of job? Distraction?"

"No. Female FTA. She's known to be violent, but we still need a female present at the take down."

Ranger wouldn't ask me if he didn't think I could handle it. And he did need a woman present in case the FTA screamed sexual abuse, or even worse, rape. "No problem. What time?"

"We've another job first thing. I'll pick you up at eleven."

"Okay. Night Ranger."

"Night, Babe."

Oh my God again! Another first. He finished a phone conversation properly. Perhaps I should check to make sure the sky isn't falling!

Eleven o'clock the next morning saw me sitting in the back seat of a large, black SUV on the way to pick up Attila the Hun a.k.a. Judith Hansen. Ranger hadn't shown me a picture or anything - but she had to be bad news, especially since her apprehension warranted both Ranger and Ram. Apparently, Attila, er, Judith had caught her lover cheating on her and had taken a knife to his jugular while he slept. Ranger and Ram were taking point on this one and I knew I was just along as window dressing for the lawyers.

We pulled up to the curb outside a well-kept home on Sherman. I hung back at the bottom of the steps while Ranger and Ram walked up to the front door and knocked. A diminutive woman answered the door and had to lean back to look at the guys' faces. This very pretty, neatly dressed, tiny lady couldn't possibly be Judith Hansen. She didn't look the sort to kill a mouse let alone her lover.

Ranger took up a non-threatening stance but still put one foot inside the door to stop her from shutting the door on us. "Ms. Judith Hansen?"

"Yes, that's me." Even her voice was sweet. This had to be a case of mistaken identity.

"Ma'am, I'm Carlos Manoso and I'm here on behalf of your bail bondsman. You missed your court date and we have to take you downtown to reschedule."

"Oh yes, I know I missed my date. I didn't know whom to call about it. I'm so glad you came. You see, I was helping to chaperone a field trip for my church's kindergarten on that day and I couldn't let them down." Her smile included all three of us. "If you'd just come in for a moment, I'll get my bag and coat." I watched her run nimbly up the stairs.

I was dumbstruck. "She's a murderer? Are you sure you've got the right file, Ranger?"

"Takes all sorts, Babe."

Just ten minutes later, we were in the SUV with Judith sitting in the back with me. Ranger had actually apologized to the woman when he'd put the cuffs on her, telling her it was standard procedure.

I couldn't help myself, I had to know. "Ms. Hansen, did you really kill your boyfriend?"

"Oh yes dear, I did. I was really quite angry that he'd cheated on me, you see. I had thought of taking a pair of pliers to his testicles to stop him from doing the same thing to anyone else." She stopped to shake her head and sigh. "But I couldn't find where he'd put the tool box. So I took a knife from the kitchen. You know it was very easy to do. A bit like sticking a skewer in a chicken."

I almost choked from trying to hold back my laughter. Ram, however wasn't being so successful; I could see his shoulders shaking.

It had only taken a few minutes to drop Miss dainty Attila off at the police station and get our body receipt. We were almost at the bonds office to leave the paperwork with Connie, when we heard the screeching of tires, followed by the ear­splitting crunching sound that metal makes when two cars meet head-on.

Up ahead of us a scene of carnage was being played out. Vehicles were at a standstill and people were running towards two cars that were a tangled and twisted mass of metal.

We pulled over and Ram headed off to the office with the paperwork while Ranger called 911.

I got out of our vehicle and watched the incident unfolding before me. There had been young children in one of the cars and the sound of their crying carried to where I was standing. The drivers of both cars were slumped over the steering wheels, but from my current location, I couldn't tell how badly they were hurt.

It was early afternoon and there wasn't a lot of traffic on the road, but what there was had been brought to a standstill by the ghastly scene. Ranger walked around the SUV and stood next to me; I looked up at him and he nodded towards an armored truck that had been caught up in the mess. "That's wrong."

I looked at the truck that he'd indicated. The guard and the driver had gotten out and were trying to help the victims. "They shouldn't leave the truck, should they?"

"No."

Quite a crowd had gathered on the sidewalks and as I glanced over them, one pointy face, decorated by a pair of glasses and framed by slicked back hair came sharply into focus. I put a hand on Ranger's arm. "We have a familiar face over there on the sidewalk." I jerked my head in the direction of the other side of the street. "Steward."

Ranger nodded once, and took off, hand on the firearm at his hip. I followed at a slightly slower pace keeping an eye on Steward, who was on the move. "He's making for the armored truck."

Even as I yelled, Ranger was changing direction towards the truck in order to intercept the skip. Steward had a head start and was already climbing up into the cab when Ranger reached the truck, with me just a few paces behind. Steward looked directly at Ranger and then at me. I had a mental picture of pure evil, like a yawning pit into Hell, and then I saw Batman shake his head as if trying to clear it.

I looked at Ranger again; well actually, I looked at his butt. A burst of pure lust shot through me. All I could think of was getting another look, or to be more exact, some more hands-on experience of what his cargoes were covering. He turned to face me and my eyes feasted on his groin. It seemed I wasn't the only one experiencing a sudden surge of sexual need. I brought my gaze up to meet his and all sounds faded away. He walked towards me like a lion stalking his prey, and all I knew was that I wanted to be caught.

It felt like we were the only two people in the world as he came within kissing distance. I raised my face to his and he cradled the side of my head in his hand threading his fingers into my hair. With excruciating slowness, he lowered his head towards my face until his lips touched mine. The kiss was soft but demanding and I responded, opening my mouth in invitation. Through a lust filled haze I could hear the distant sound of emergency vehicles. Ranger tore his mouth from mine with a whispered curse, grabbed my hand and almost dragged me into a nearby alley.

He'd just pushed me against the rough brick of the wall and was about to kiss me again, an idea I wholeheartedly supported, when his cell rang. He swore and ripped the phone off his belt. "This'd better be good. No. Take the SUV. We'll make our own way." He shoved the damned thing back onto his belt and I melted into his embrace as his lips captured mine again.

I needed to feel skin. I couldn't drag his shirt out of his waistband fast enough before I tunneled my hands under the fabric to caress the muscles on his back. The smooth skin felt like silk and I wanted more. I heard a growl as he removed his mouth from mine and attacked my neck with those commanding lips. I stretched my head to the side to give him better access. Meanwhile his hands had been busy; the buttons on my shirt had already given way to his questing fingers. My nipples were pushing against the inside of my bra, and the garment felt tight. Oh God, I so wanted to get naked with this man.

I felt my skin quiver as he kissed his way past my collarbone to the swell of my breast. We needed some privacy; I didn't think either of us wanted to get arrested for indecent exposure. I knew what I wanted to do, I also knew I wasn't supposed to do it. I mentally shrugged; since when did I follow the rules. Ranger knew about the Unmentionable world already, what harm could it do? "The Hell with this." And I popped us both to his bedroom at RangeMan.

Ranger looked around and then down at our naked bodies. Raising an eyebrow, he chuckled. "Neat party trick."

I didn't feel inclined to talk. Right then I just wanted to taste him. I pulled his head down to mine and kissed him. Without breaking our kiss, he picked me up and laid me on the bed. I sighed as he began to caress my neck with his lips, and when he started to nibble and suck his way down to my breast, I felt moisture pool between my legs. I arched my back as he drew the taut peak of my breast into his mouth, gently gnawing at it with his teeth and then biting. The mix of pain and pleasure brought me close to the edge. I felt his knee nudging my legs apart and I gladly opened to him. The pressure of his thigh at my core was heaven and I rubbed myself against him.

As I opened my legs, I automatically opened my mind. I reached out and touched Ranger's mind with mine. Through the haze of lust, something felt wrong. It was as if I was driving on a one-way street when it should have been two-way. There was no give and take. Ranger was giving with his body but not with his mind; it felt so wrong. From beyond the edge of the fog of sex I felt another mind. It was giving. It was loving, and it was feeling intense sadness. It was Diesel.

With almost superhuman strength, I pushed Ranger off me and scrambled off the bed. I reached for the pile of clothing that I'd materialized into the room with us, grabbed mine and disappeared into the bathroom.

The reflected Stephanie in the mirror looked accusingly at me. I turned my back on my reflection and began to dress. Minutes later, I emerged from the bathroom fully clothed to find Ranger had pulled on his pants and was sitting on the bed with his head cradled in his hands.

I stood outside the bathroom door watching him. He knew I was there but he didn't look up. This man had been part of my life for a few years now and I didn't want to lose his friendship. We'd been lovers once for such a brief period, and I still loved him. But I knew that Diesel was my future, and if I knew that how could I possibly have betrayed him by even thinking of making love with Ranger. I was having intense difficulty reconciling what I felt with what I'd done.

I moved forward but remained at a safe distance from him. "You realize this was Steward's doing don't you." It was a statement of fact and Ranger appeared to accept it as such.

He looked up at me and I felt as if he could see straight into my soul. "Babe, we wouldn't have acted on the impulse if we hadn't wanted to."

"No. No. No, I won't believe that. I love Diesel. I want Diesel." The tears came then and I couldn't bear to stay where I'd betrayed my love. I closed my eyes and willed myself back to my apartment.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

My day had started well. Well, apart from the fact that I'd woken up alone and in a strange motel bed, again. That was a situation that I fully intended to remedy as soon as possible.

The previous day I'd tracked down an old associate of Steward's. Another Unmentionable who'd always waivered on the edge of being unstable but as yet had behaved himself. I'd arranged to meet him for an early lunch today. While I'd sat and nursed a coffee, he enjoyed a plate of steak and fries. Although not averse to eating that kind of food, my appetite had deserted me since my argument with Steph.

After the man had left, I'd sat for a while thinking about what I had learned. Some interesting and, hopefully, helpful information had come to light about Steward. Apparently, he loved to play poker and had an eye for a certain type of woman. The game had to be high stakes and the woman had to be slutty and easy. My mind started to work overtime; I thought we might just be able to use the information to trap him.

I paid the tab and wandered out of the diner still deep in thought. Suddenly I was blindsided by a blast of pain deep in my mind. I looked around, sure that Steward was in the vicinity. The pain was quickly replaced by a feeling that had me hardening in response. Lust. Stephanie. Damn, I wanted her. Needed her. I leaned against the window of the diner and closed my eyes. My mind reached out to find her and I popped to her location.

When I materialized, I realized I was in the middle of a street. Luckily no one had noticed me; everyone's attention was on the emergency services dealing with what looked like a deadly road accident. Stephanie! I approached the bloody scene and sighed with relief when it became was obvious that she hadn't been involved. One car had a sole male driver and a woman with three child passengers had driven the other.

She was here I could still feel her. Looking around I realized I was near the bonds office. Of course, she was probably visiting with Connie and Lula and I set off in the direction of the office. I never reached my destination. I got as far as the opening of an alley half a block before Vinnie's and my heart began to weep. There, in the shadows, was Stephanie. And she wasn't alone. She and Ranger didn't see me; they were far too interested in each other. As I watched, Steph pulled Manoso's shirt out of his pants and reached under the cloth to caress his back. Her head was arched back against the wall and her eyes were closed. Before I could make a decision about what to do, they'd disappeared.

I zapped myself back to our apartment before I disgraced myself by breaking down in public. I felt the need to connect with her and despite all that had happened during the last couple of days, the apartment still felt like my home. I'd arrived in the kitchen and stood looking down at Rex's cage. I watched him scratching around in the wood shavings that lined the floor of his home. Life as a hamster was so uncomplicated.

I went into the bedroom and sat on the bed. Her perfume surrounded me, her clothes were scattered around, her shoes tossed on the floor. Despite the pain in my heart, I smiled. I loved the way she made the apartment feel like a home, even though it was usually a mess.

My life had always been easy. Relatively uncomplicated, really. My parents had been Normals but when they discovered I was special they embraced my powers and nurtured them. They accepted the Powers That Be into their lives and encouraged me to do the same. They supported me through every step in my education and career. I had adored them. However, none of their love and support had prepared me for an experience like this.

Being in a relationship with Steph was so different from anything I'd ever known. I loved her. She was my life and I wasn't going to give up on her. Seeing her with Ranger had been a shock. I'd trusted him. I knew they had a history, and I knew that Steph still had feelings for him. Deep down I knew that Steward had gotten to her and he had manufactured what I'd seen. That still didn't change the fact that what was happening now was killing me. I didn't want to think about them together.

I lay back on the bed with my legs over the side. Closing my eyes, I thought of Steph. Of how she felt under me every time we made love. I tried not to reach out to her with my mind, but I couldn't stop myself. My love for her and the sadness for what we were destroying overwhelmed me. I knew I'd reached her when I felt a gentleness caress my mind almost as if she were comforting me. The feeling was suddenly replaced with a feeling of horror mixed with shame. Just as suddenly the link was broken.

**ooOOOoo**

As soon as I arrived back at my apartment, I knew I wasn't alone. I went into the bedroom to find Diesel lying on the bed with his eyes closed. I hesitated at the door, not quite knowing what to say. I knew he'd been in my mind while I was with Ranger, but how much he'd actually felt was debatable.

I started to turn around to go back to the living room when Diesel's voice broke into the silence and almost made me jump out of my skin.

"How far did you go?" He didn't open his eyes or turn towards me.

"What?" I croaked out as I turned back into the bedroom and went to sit on the far side of the bed.

"I saw you... with Ranger, in the alley. Then, just a few minutes ago, I felt your mind touch mine."

"What do I say to you, D?" I hung my head. "I won't lie to you. We didn't finish but it went far enough to make me feel worse than shit."

"It was Steward wasn't it?" He sounded as if he really wanted that to be the answer, and not something deeper.

I thought that was a rhetorical question but I answered anyway. "Yeah, I think so." I didn't need to be an empath to feel his hurt. But when I did touch his mind I felt tendrils of anger and hopelessness. I had no idea how to make this better, other than to stick to the truth. "We saw him at the accident. He looked straight at me and I had a feeling of intense evil." I looked over at him, but he had flung an arm over his eyes. "That feeling was followed by a shot of lust that almost knocked me over. After that, I wasn't in control, a primal urge just took over. I know that's no excuse..."

"He's only able to build on something that was already there. You still have feelings for Ranger, don't you?"

I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath. Ranger had used almost those same words. Did I have feelings for Ranger? "Yes, I do. But I realize now that it's not love that I feel for him. At least not the forever kind of love that I feel for you."

Diesel sat up when he heard that and looked me straight in the eye. "Do we really have the 'forever' kind of love?"

Tears filled my eyes as I thought of what I'd almost lost. "I stopped as soon as I realized what I was doing and I came back here. To our home. I love you, D, please believe that."

I don't know if he chose not to comment or if he wasn't really listening to me because he was still concentrating on Steward. "Now do you understand why I didn't want you going after Steward on your own?"

"Yes." My voice was barely audible. "I have to take a shower; will you still be here when I come out?"

"Do you want me to be?"

"Yes. Please."

I almost scrubbed myself raw in the shower. Never before had I felt dirty after being in Ranger's arms. My tears mixed with the steaming water as I washed away the evidence of my guilt. The smell of Bulgari will be forever linked to guilt in my mind.

I leaned against the tiles and let the hot water beat against my skin. What was it about Ranger that made me forget all my inhibitions, my upbringing? When I was with Joe, I used to succumb to Ranger's magic without hesitation. But I was never one to sleep around. So why did Ranger affect me so? And Diesel? I'd done the same with him while I was with Joe. Had I made a mistake? Of the three men in my life which did I love? I had so many questions but did I have the answers? I wanted to make a relationship work with Diesel. What we had now was on a different level to anything I had or would ever have with Joe or Ranger. When our minds touch there's a feeling of being complete. Like the cliché, two halves of a whole. Sounded corny but it felt right.

I turned off the water; I knew what I had to do. Somehow, I had to repair the damage I'd caused. I had no idea how to do it yet; I was only sure of one thing, I was going to listen to Diesel, both his words and his mind and take my cues from him.

When I emerged from my homemade sauna, Diesel was in the kitchen drinking coffee. "Is there enough of that for me?"

He poured a cup and handed it to me. "I felt Steward attack your mind. Was he responsible for that God-awful traffic accident?"

I nodded. "I think it was a distraction. There was an armored truck caught up in the mess and he drove it away. Ranger tried to stop him and that's when he attacked us."

"That's his specialty, using innocents as a distraction." He went to the refrigerator and opened the door. He straightened up, having removed the left over lasagna from the previous night. He pierced the plastic wrap with a knife, put the dish in the microwave and set the timer. I took a couple of wine glasses out of the cabinet and opened the bottle of Chianti.

The whole situation felt very surreal. To all intents and purposes, I'd just cheated on my lover, and here we were sitting down to eat together. It was almost as if we were filing the whole incident away under 'to be dealt with later'. I was dreading that 'later'. Would Diesel still want to be with me now he knew what I'd done? Did he still love me? More importantly, would he ever forgive me?

I tried to touch his mind, I wondered if I could project emotion as well as read. I looked at him and blinked. He was blocking me. I looked down and wiped away the tears that came far too easily to my eyes. If he were shutting himself off from me, would there ever be a way back to him. Another wave of guilt crashed over me, and I took a sip of my wine while I tried to pull myself together.

He sat down opposite me at the table. "I met with an old associate of Steward's today. Picked up a couple of bits of information that might help us take this bastard down."

How can he do that? How can he just shut off his feelings and get down to business, as if nothing had happened? I looked over at my cookie jar. "Can we shoot him?" I would so love to kill the bastard. He'd ruined my life and deserved to pay – and pay dearly.

"That would be my choice, but no, the Powers That Be wouldn't like that." He looked as if he was about to smile, but the moment quickly passed. "I found out that he likes high stakes poker and fast, slutty women."

"Are you thinking distraction?"

"Yeah. The problem is we'd have to ask Ranger for help." He watched me closely as he took a sip from his wine glass.

I choked on my wine. "I'm not sure I could work with Ranger so soon after..."

"I'm not at all that comfortable with it either, but he's our best resource."

I served the lasagna and we ate in silence. I had almost finished before I had enough courage to speak up. "I need to ask you for something… something big."

Diesel looked at me, apprehension clear in his eyes. I took a deep breath and prayed he wouldn't say no. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

"Do you really want me to?"

"More than anything. This is your home. Here, with me." I smiled but then I had to bite my lip to stop the tears from falling.

Again, I reached out to him with my mind and this time, while he still seemed to be blocking me, I could feel just a twinge of hope.

He stood up and came around the table to me. Taking my hand in his he brought it to his lips and kissed my knuckles. A gentle tug brought me out of my chair and into his arms. Resting my head on his shoulder, I breathed deeply. This was where I belonged; I just hoped he believed that too.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

I couldn't resist holding Steph in my arms once we were in bed. We didn't make love, but the air between us was still full of love. A love tinged with sadness. The magic and the bloom of a new love had given way to something deeper, stronger. A love tempered by fire.

Steward's intervention in our lives in addition to our previous fight over the whole trust thing, had made me re-evaluate what I wanted. When Steph put her answer to my proposal on an indefinite hold, I'd thought I would be happy just living with her. Now I realized that wasn't going to be enough for me. I needed her like I needed food to eat and air to breathe. I had to know that she was committed to me and only to me. Ranger would always be part of her life, just like Morelli, I realized that. I was willing to accept that. But I needed to know that she loved me; that she needed me as much as I needed her.

Today had hurt me beyond anything I'd ever experienced. I knew it hadn't been their fault and they hadn't been in control of their emotions or actions, but it still hurt. I honestly believed that Steph was hurting as well and not just putting on a show for my benefit. I know she feels that she's betrayed herself as well as me. Now I had to speak to Ranger; we needed to work together so the air between us had to be cleared.

Steph was sleeping soundly as I slipped out of bed to use the phone in the kitchen. I dialed the number, and took a deep breath while I waited for the man to answer.

"Yo."

"Manoso. We need to talk."

"We do. My apartment?" Ranger was normally so controlled, but his voice was more clipped than usual, as if he were hiding a strong emotion.

"Yes. Five minutes." I disconnected and went to get dressed. I wrote a quick note and stuck it on the refrigerator, then popped to the building on Haywood. Ranger was sitting at the dining table with files and papers spread before him.

He looked up as I arrived. "I should do an upgrade on my security, something that'll keep out paranormals." He got up and walked over to the kitchen. When he returned to the sitting area, he was carrying two beers. Handing me one, he sat down on an armchair while I took the couch.

"Steph go home after leaving here?"

"Yes." I put my beer on the coffee table, untouched. "She told me what happened."

"All of it?"

"Yes." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Answer me this. Do you love her?"

"Yes."

"Do you love her enough to let her go?"

"If she wants you, then yes." He took a swig of his beer and leveled his gaze at me. "What about you? Do you love her enough to let her go?"

"Yes. But I will fight for her."

"At least you're honest." He leaned forward and put his beer on the table then clasped his hands between his knees. "You didn't come here to discuss our respective love lives did you?"

"No, I came to discuss Steward… and to clear the air enough so we might continue to work together. I discovered some minor information that I think we might utilize to entrap him."

"I'm listening."

"Our boy likes to play poker for high stakes and he likes his women slutty."

"Makes sense. With his mind control talent should be easy to win at poker. I think I could probably find a game with high enough stakes to interest him." Ranger picked up his beer again. "Are you thinking of asking Steph to do the distraction?"

"I know you could work with her and stay professional, so the answer is yes. We need to knock him out completely. We can't kill him. Can you get hold of a powerful stun gun with enough juice to knock out an elephant?"

"I might be able to." He stood up. That was my cue that the discussion was over. "I'll set things up and you'll hear from me."

I nodded. I didn't even bother to stand up before I teleported back home. I arrived back in our bedroom and looked down at Steph sleeping peacefully. I quickly undressed and climbed in next to her, gathering her slender body into my arms. Finally able to relax, I fell asleep to the sound of her quiet breathing.

**oo000oo**

I woke to the feeling of warmth against my back. I'd missed waking up with Diesel, and I luxuriated in the knowledge that he was back home... for all of about ten seconds. Then memories of the previous day came crashing back and I moved closer to the edge of the bed and away from him. I'd also remembered something else. I sat up and looked down at him to find his steady gaze on me.

Folding my hands in my lap to stop myself from reaching out and touching him, I cleared my throat. "Morning. I woke during the night and you were missing. Where'd you go?"

"I went to see Ranger." He started to get up and then stopped and turned to face me. "You have a decision to make." He swung his legs out of bed and got up to get his robe, giving me a great view of his ass. He'd slept in his briefs and I'd worn a tank top and panties. Usually neither of us wore anything in bed, but he, like me, had obviously felt the need for the nominal barrier, the protection that clothes would give us.

I got up and followed him into the kitchen. "What do you mean, I've 'got a decision to make'?" I watched him as he got the coffee started.

Diesel turned to face me, his expression serious. "Ranger or me. We both love you."

Where the Hell had that come from? One minute we were sharing a bed, and the next he was telling me I had a choice to make. And to top it all off, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He'd gotten Ranger to admit to feelings for me. I knew there was no decision to make; but would he believe me? As the silence stretched between us, he turned to face the counter and the coffee machine. His shoulders slumped as if he had the weight of the world on them.

I stepped towards him and put my arms around him, resting my head on his back. "I made my decision two months ago. I'm exactly where I want to be, and exactly with the man I want to be with." He covered my hand with his and I took comfort from the contact. "We've gone over a really big, actually enormous, bump in the road, but we're going in the right direction. And we're going there together."

He turned to face me and I moved my arms to encircle his waist. He brought his hands up to my cheeks, cradled my face and kissed me. I took a chance, opened my mouth and flicked his lips with my tongue. I felt an answering flick from his and then the kiss ended as he jerked back. I raised my eyebrows. "It'll take a while won't it?"

"Yeah Steph. Give me time."

I nodded and reached for the cups to pour the coffee.

"I have to meet with the Elders this morning. They want a progress report on Steward."

His hand brushed mine as I handed him his cup and the coffee slopped onto the floor. I wasn't sure if it had been my hand or his that jerked at the contact. "Have you any idea how to take him down?" I got some paper towels and wiped up the mess.

"Yeah, I have. That was the other topic I discussed with Ranger last night."

"You going for the distraction? Because if you are, he's seen me, I don't think I could work it."

"Yeah you could. With a good disguise, he wouldn't recognize you. And you're our best bet, anyone else would succumb to his will far too easily.

"Just like I did yesterday." I really didn't want another encounter with Steward. "I would snap like a twig the minute he looked at me."

"No. I think you could resist his mind this time. You'll know what to expect and I think I may know how to block him. I have to check with the Elders first, but if my idea pans out, it might just work."

After Diesel left for his meeting with the Elders, I poured myself yet another cup of coffee and gave some serious thought to my future. What did I want? I wanted to be happy, that much I knew for sure. Until this case, Diesel had made me happy. He still did, really. He had been hurt and disappointed by the consequences of Steward's mind machinations. But he hadn't yelled, he hadn't been violent.

How would Morelli or Ranger have reacted in the same situation? Joe would have yelled, walked away from me and possibly gotten drunk. Ranger would have gone quiet. He would have retreated into himself and shut me out. Diesel, at least, was talking.

I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I had to make things right with Diesel. And I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I loved him.

However, there was someone else I had to talk to first. Staring at the phone, I knew I had to call him. I couldn't do this face to face; I was too much of a coward. I picked up the receiver and dialed his number.

Someone answered but they didn't say anything. I guess Ranger had checked his caller i.d. and knew it was me.

"Ranger?"

"Babe." How he could put so much feeling into that one word still defies imagination.

"I'm sorry."

"You weren't at fault. Steward was. We'll get the bastard, and I promise you he will pay." He sounded so tired.

"But we... Oh God, this is so difficult."

"Babe, the only difference between yesterday and any other time, is Diesel. And you found out who you cared about more when you couldn't go through with it." He hesitated, as if he was going to say something else and then changed his mind. "We can deal with it. It's over." What he thought was 'over' wasn't up for discussion but instinct told me it was his pursuit of me.

"Goodbye, Ranger." This time I hung up before he could say goodbye. Somehow, I didn't want to hear that word from him.

**oo000oo**

It was late into the evening before Diesel came home. I'd spent the day scrubbing and cleaning anything that wasn't bolted down, and even some things that were. I couldn't bring myself to socialize with anyone. I'd screened my calls, in case Diesel phoned, but chose not to call anyone else back.

I felt like my life was on hold and I was waiting for the next bomb to drop. The phone conversation with Ranger had shaken me to the core. I knew I didn't want Ranger any more but I still felt the loss of that possibility deeply.

The skin on the nape of my neck started to tingle as I was rinsing dishes. Grabbing a dishcloth to wipe my hands, I turned and Diesel was standing in the doorway.

"How long have you been there?"

"A minute or two."

I stood there wringing the dishcloth between my hands. "This is ridiculous. I feel like a teenager about to be dumped by her boyfriend." Why the Hell did I just say that? "You're not, are you? I mean, you're not going to dump me, are you?"

He shook his head slowly. "Not a chance. I'm not saying we don't need to work on this…on us, we do, but we can't while Steward is still out there."

"Okay. But that doesn't make the butterflies settle." I leaned back against the counter. "What did the Elders have to say?"

"That my idea on how to block Steward's mind control might work, but only on the two of us. Everyone else will still be susceptible."

"Won't that be dangerous? The Normals might act unpredictably."

"I don't think so. I've also spoken to Ranger again; he'll have three of his men there, all strong-minded men experienced in interrogation techniques. They should be able to withstand Steward for short periods at a time." There was the tiniest of hesitation in his voice as he mentioned Ranger. "He's setting up a private poker game in the back room of a bar down by the river. One of his men, Hector I think he said, is using his gang connections to get the information to Steward and at the same time discouraging anyone else from trying to join the game."

"And us? How will we block him?" I really didn't want Steward in my mind again. Apart from the mind control, it was the evil I'd felt that I feared.

"We join our minds, like when we..." His cheeks flushed.

"Oh. Oh! You mean we...?" I wasn't sure if either of us were ready for that.

"It's the only possible way, Steph. Two minds are stronger than one."

Would we be able to do that? I wasn't so sure. The only time we'd done that was when we were making love and we hadn't had sex in what seemed like ages. Even if we managed a connection, would we be able to stay connected, given our present situation? I knew I would do anything to connect with Diesel again, with my mind and my body, but I decided to stay quiet about my worries. Clothes, however, were a different matter, that I _could_ talk about.

"What about my outfit? He's seen me twice now, I can't just dress the way I normally do for a distraction." I was sure Steward would see through any disguise I wore.

He cleared his throat and had the grace to look sheepish. "I thought Lula might be able to help. We need you to look like a street corner ho. She would know how to dress you, even though she's no longer in that business."

"I'll ask, but I won't put it to her like that." I stalked out of the kitchen shaking my head and muttering "men".

I was about to go to bed and had been walking towards the bedroom when a sudden thought hit me. "D?" He'd gone over to the couch and picked up the paper, but looked up when I called him. "Are you staying? Er... I mean... are you going to sleep with me?"

"I stayed last night didn't I? And there is only one bed, Steph. We shared it even before we became a couple."

"Are we still a couple?"

"My clothes are in your closet. My gun is up on the shelf. So yeah, we're still a couple."

I nodded, still unsure of our exact situation. "So, I'll see you in bed?"

"I'll be along soon."

I nodded again and continued into the bedroom to slip under the covers. I tried to stay awake and wait for him, but when I finally fell asleep, he still hadn't joined me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

I put the final touches on my make**-**up and stood back to look at myself in the mirror. The one here in my bathroom didn't give a full-length view but it was good enough. I hardly recognized myself, and I was fairly sure Steward wouldn't either.

Lula had surpassed herself. We'd spent the morning shopping and having fun. She said she'd always wanted a Barbie doll when she was a kid, and now she got to dress me just like one. I was half Goth, half slut. My almost non-existent skirt was black latex with a matching top in bright red. Over the halter-neck top, I wore a bustier that pushed my breasts up and gave me a cleavage that was pure artifice. Black seamed stockings and four inch spiked strappy sandals made my legs look endless. I'd used black eye make-up and dark grape lipstick that would make any self-respecting Goth girl turn green with envy. Large brass hoop earrings, and a wig of long straight black hair, completed the outfit.

I left the bathroom and went to check on Diesel. I leaned against the doorframe and watched the most important man in my life preparing to go after Steward.

He was still angry. He was no longer blocking me and I could feel his anger deep within my soul.

Wishing I knew how to fix the mess I'd made of things, I watched him as he reached into the closet to pull a duffle bag down off the shelf. Unzipping it, he pulled out a Sig Sauer and tucked it in the waistband of his faded jeans. As he stretched up to put the bag away, I took a moment or two to appreciate the way those jeans hugged his tight behind and thighs. The sight made me glad that I was leaning against a solid surface as my knees went a little wobbly at the memory of what was hidden inside those pants.

Diesel turned to look at me. His eyes were sad and full of longing; the sparkle was gone. What made it worse, was that it was gone because of me. Slowly, I made my way over to him and he held out his hands for mine. Leading me over to the bed, he pulled me down next to him still holding my hands.

I didn't have to open my mind to know what he was feeling. Diesel and I were so attuned to each other that we always knew what the other was feeling, unless he was blocking me, which he'd been doing lately.

I could sense that his mind was open, that he'd let his barriers down, but I didn't reach out to him. Tonight, in order to take Steward down, we were going to have to allow our minds to join on such an intimate level, that I didn't want to rush things.

Pulling back a little so that I could see his face, I cupped his cheek in my hand. "You know that I love you, don't you D?"

The smile he gave me was a poor attempt, one that didn't even hint at his dimples. "I love you too, Steph. We'll get past this I know we will. It'll be hard, it is hard, but I know it wasn't your fault, or Ranger's. My brain knows that, but my heart still hurts every time I think of what happened."

"What nearly happened, Diesel." I hesitated and then kissed him lightly on the lips. "Don't forget that I stopped before it went too far." Although it had gone far enough for me to feel like a cheat.

"Yeah." He gently ran a fingertip across my lips. "We'll need to talk that out some more. In the meantime, we've still got Steward on the loose. Let's go catch the bastard before he brings more grief to the world."

**oo000oo**

When we arrived at the dive that Ranger had arranged to use, the Rangemen were already in the back room. Diesel went to join them and I went to the bar to get a tray. I knew that Ranger wasn't going to be in the game or even in the bar, because Steward would recognize him. However, I couldn't help but take a surreptitious look around in case he was sitting in the shadows.

I sashayed into the game room without bothering to knock on the door. They'd already started playing. Diesel and Steward were seated across from each other, with Tank, Lester and Cal filling the remaining seats. I concentrated for a second on Steward and felt his greed and confidence but nothing else. He wasn't suspicious. I looked over at Diesel and met his gaze. I opened my mind to him and felt him enter mine. I took a ragged breath as I felt the wealth of emotion that flooded into my mind. I locked onto his mind so we would think and feel together.

"Evening boys. My name's Sherri, what can I get ya?"

Lester, bless him, put his arm around my hips and played right along. "I'll have you, sweetheart."

I slapped playfully at his hand on my hip. "You couldn't afford me, honey. What do you want to drink, boys?"

I took their orders and put an extra sway into my hips as I walked out of the room closing the door behind me. As soon as I was on the other side of the closed door, I felt as if something was missing. I'd reached the bar before I realized what had happened. I was no longer connected to Diesel. The connection had dissipated as soon as I'd left the room. I guess the connection only works when we're near each other.

Hal was working the bar and he nodded to me as he filled the order. "The boss is in the parking lot with Ram if they're needed." He indicated the earpiece he was wearing to show that Ranger was listening in. I guessed that Tank and the others were similarly wired. I took the drinks from him and walked back to the game. As soon as I entered the room, I felt Diesel touch my mind again. I really liked that feeling.

There's an art to serving a drink in a sexy fashion, and I'd worked hard to learn how to do it. Working distractions for Ranger had given me a whole new education that wasn't taught at any college. I placed Steward's drink in front of him, making sure he got an eyeful of my cleavage. The pile of money in front of him had grown in the time I'd been outside and I ran my hand lightly over his free hand. "My, you're doing well, gorgeous."

"Why don't you stay where you are for a while, you might bring me even more luck."

I thought I was going to puke, but I clung onto Diesel's mind and felt his thoughts caress my mine. With his gentle encouragement warming me from the inside I managed to summon a sultry smile. "Sure thing, honey."

They played a few more hands, one of which Diesel won. I refilled their orders five more times, and each time I served Steward his drink I tried to fondle or touch his hand, his cheek or even once or twice his ear – ugh! The beast kept putting his hands on me. Touching me. All the time I felt waves of support and yes, love, coming from Diesel. In a way it was like any other distraction, but I felt safer because not only did I have back-up in the room but there was support in my mind as well.

The hand they were currently playing finished with Steward winning again. Diesel scraped his chair back and stretched his arms above his head. "I don't know about anyone else, but I need to visit the little boys' room. How about a smoke break?" There were nods of agreement, although Tank, Lester and Cal's voices sounded a little vague. "Back in twenty?" He looked at Steward.

"Sure. Take your time, I think this little lady and I can find something to keep ourselves occupied." His hand moved over my buttock, smoothing the skirt to my shape.

I wished Diesel hadn't left the room because I could really have done with some of his loving thoughts. The slime was still fondling my butt and when his fingers got to the bottom of the skirt he started upwards under it, I'd had enough. This pig was going down.

"I bet I could make those twenty minutes fly by." I leaned down and kissed his cheek, then breathed into his ear. "Why don't you take some of that pile of dough in front of you and come out back with me."

"Lead on, sweet cheeks." He put his arm around my waist and we started for the back door.

I made sure my body was touching him from shoulder to hip as we walked. I led him out of the door and along the wall at the back of the building. "Now baby, why don't you let Sherri look after you." I leaned into him and rubbed my hand against his crotch, he was hard. Where the Hell was Diesel? Just as I went to work on the button of his waistband I felt Diesel's mind touch mine, and a fraction of second later he materialized behind Steward, zapping him on the back of his neck. I'd removed my hand just in time not to get jolted and our man went down like a sack of potatoes.

"You cut it fine. I thought I was gonna have to get up close and personal with his johnson!" I was angry.

"Ow! Watch where you're directing that anger, we're connected again!"

I grinned at him sheepishly. "Oops, sorry."

"To answer you. I was waiting until he was really distracted. And your hand on his cock was the perfect distraction."

I couldn't help myself, I kicked his shin. All he did was rub it and grin at me. "Okay, I'm going to take him to Lakewood, then make my report. I'll meet you back at the apartment." He looked round as Ranger walked up to us. "I'll settle up with you tomorrow if that's okay. Your men should be fine now that Steward is out cold."

Ranger nodded and watched as Diesel pulled the unconscious Steward to his feet and disappeared.

"C'mon Babe, let's wrap up here and get you home." He turned to go inside the bar, but I stopped him with my hand on his arm.

"Are we still friends?"

In the dim light, I saw him raise an eyebrow. "Always, Babe. Always."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

It had become a tradition over the past few years, that either Ranger or one of his men would make sure I returned home safely after a distraction job. Tonight was no exception so even though I could have willed myself home in a flash, I allowed Lester to drive me home. He kept me giggling the whole time with his pick-up lines all the way to my apartment.

It had been ages since I'd had such a good laugh. When I let myself into the apartment, I was still smiling. Not even bothering to check for messages first, I went straight to the bathroom and stripped. While I waited for the water to get up to temperature I took off the wig and fluffed out my hair. I stepped into the shower and the hot spray felt good as I washed Steward out of my life.

I dressed in a tank top and boxers, then went to check on my messages. There was only one and it was from Diesel. "Hi Steph. Dress warmly and get ready to leave as soon as I get back." What the... where were we going at eleven o'clock at night.

If that's what he wanted, who was I to argue? Who was I kidding? Of course I was going to argue. I'd pulled on a pair of jeans and boots, and was just struggling into a sweatshirt when Diesel popped into the bedroom. "Where are we going in the middle of the night?"

"It's not night where we're going. Well, not yet." He held out his hand and as soon as I took it, I felt myself being transported over a much greater distance than I'd ever traveled before.

We materialized on a deserted beach. It was still daylight so we weren't in Jersey any more. I looked around; I couldn't see any signs of life, no buildings, nor roads. Glancing down at the blanket, I noticed a bucket sized silver container filled with ice sitting on the sand to one side. Nestled amongst the ice was a bottle of wine and a pair of glasses were on a flat rock just next to the cooler. The only sound I could hear was the ocean as it raced up to meet the sand and rocks. I narrowed my eyes at him accusingly. "You planned this?"

"Yep. We need to talk and I didn't want any interruptions. I thought watching a sunset from the beach would be a nice change."

I sat down on the blanket and looked around again. "It's beautiful here." I didn't care where we were. It really was beautiful. Rugged and wild. A little ways down the beach, the surf crashed onto rocks but it was somewhat calmer where we were. Diesel took the wine out of the cooler and poured some into each glass. I took mine and silently toasted him before sipping at the cool liquid.

"Thank you for your support during the job tonight. I don't mean physically, I mean what I felt flow from your mind to mine. I couldn't have done it without you."

"You were brilliant. It's the first time I've watched you do a distraction. You've made it into an art form."

I wasn't sure if I liked the idea that I had a talent for seducing men, but I knew he'd meant it as a compliment and let it lie. "What's going to happen to Steward?"

"They'll keep him medicated to suppress his powers. If he doesn't escape again he'll be in prison for the rest of his life."

I looked up at him and patted the blanket next to me. "And what about us?"

He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. "We're going to watch the sun set and then I'm going to make love to you."

"What here?" My voice broke on a squeak. "We're in the open, anyone could see."

"No one is going to see us. This is a private beach, belongs to a friend of mine, and no," Diesel commented with a grin as if reading my mind, "he's not here right now."

The sun was slowly sinking into the sea. As it got closer to the horizon it turned into a bright orange ball decorated with licks of crimson fire, sending streaks of light out across the wisps of clouds in the sky. The puffs of white in the otherwise blue sky caught the light and turned it into beautifully worked lace in shades of red and pink, from the palest coral to a red so dark it was almost purple. One minute the sun was suspended right above the edge of the horizon and the next it was gone, swallowed by the ocean and the sky changed color yet again to light purple.

In the half-light, I turned to Diesel to thank him for bringing me, but the words died in my throat. He was looking at me instead of the sunset and his eyes burned with a fire that rivaled the sun's.

As if pulled by a magnet, I shifted closer and he took my wine glass out of my hand, setting it next to his on a rock behind our blanket. With excruciating slowness, he pulled me to him and leaned down to kiss me. His lips were soft but demanding, and I was willing to give whatever was asked of me.

His kiss was everything I remembered and more. This time, as his tongue stroked mine, our minds connected, our emotions touched. I moaned and returned the kiss, the sensation of our entwined minds was more intense than anything I'd ever experienced. We'd connected our minds when making love before, but it was nothing to the intensity I was feeling right now. I felt him lower me gently to the blanket and I wound my arms around his neck.

I knew that making love wasn't going to solve our problems, but at that moment, I didn't care. Talking could come later. I felt it was more important to open the buttons on his jeans. With that aim in mind, I brought my hands down from his neck and struggled with the buttons on his fly.

Diesel pulled back for a moment and gave me a cheeky grin. "Here, let me."

I let go and lay back on the blanket to watch. When he didn't take his jeans off immediately I gave a little pout of disappointment; it didn't last long though. Instead of unbuttoning his jeans, he unzipped mine and stripped them off together with my boots. The cold air hit my skin but before it could affect me, a feeling of white hot heat ran through me as his fingers skimmed up my legs, causing frissons of excitement to run straight to my center. It didn't take long before his jeans joined mine on the sand.

I was so ready for him. Our minds had been working overtime on the foreplay, touching and stroking with empathic gossamer fingers. I welcomed his weight as he settled himself between my legs before fully supporting his body on his arms. Feeling him nudging me where I wanted him, I arched my back, silently inviting him into my body; inviting him home.

The tendrils of an orgasm started as soon as we began to move. I burrowed my hands under his shirt and held on with frantic fingertips. My world shrunk until it was just Diesel and me in a tight bubble of sensual movement, and then it exploded. I felt like I was flying.

My mind soared and floated with his in the afterglow of our lovemaking. I slowly settled back down to earth, but my breathing remained ragged. Diesel pulled the edge of the blanket over us when I started shivering. I wasn't sure if I was shivering because I was cold or if it was a reaction to the most amazing experience of my life. I lay snuggled into his arms with my head resting on his shoulder.

Although we were no longer joined in body or mind, we were still connected on a deeply emotional level. Something momentous had happened here on this beach – something wild and fulfilling. We'd gone somewhere I doubted any other couple had ever gone. I'd always wanted to fly, and Diesel had made that possible. I didn't care how we did it, but we had to fix things between us, because I wanted to fly again.

Diesel turned to lie on his side so we were facing each other. He ran a finger down my cheek and leaned forward to capture my lips with his. I wondered how he could put so much love into one tiny kiss. "Two months ago I asked you to marry me. You told me 'maybe'. A lot has happened since then. Some good, some bad."

I tried to interrupt but he put a finger against my lips. "No, let me finish. What happened with Ranger... well it happened. We can't ignore it and we can't forget it. We'll have to live with it. But it made me realize a lot of things, the biggest one being I want you in my life forever. My feelings for you have gotten stronger; I love you more now than I did two months ago. I didn't think it was possible, but I do. I know you don't really want to get married again, so I'm asking you this:

"Stephanie Plum, will you be the wife of my heart. Will you love me and share your life with me, forever?"

He was asking for a lifelong commitment without marriage. Did I want that? Oh yes, I wanted that. I didn't want to get married again, at least not with legal papers and rings. But a private vow here in this wild and romantic place, was perfect. "Yes I will. Will you promise to love me and share your life with me?"

"Yes. For as long as I live."

We stared at each other, the enormity of what we'd just promised slowly sinking in. With the light all but gone, Diesel gathered me into his arms and I rested my head on his shoulder again. I lay there thinking about what we'd been through the last few days and what we'd just committed to, and suddenly I realized something.

"Umm, D?"

He kissed my forehead. "Yeah?"

"If I'm making a lifelong commitment to you, don't you think I should know your full name? I mean, Diesel what?"

He chuckled and held me tighter. "It's not 'Diesel what', it's 'what Diesel'. I didn't give you my first name when we met because I knew about your ex-husband."

I was confused. "What's the Dickhead got to do with you?"

"That's just it. I didn't want you calling me dickhead." I heard him sigh in the darkness. "My name is Richard; Richard Diesel."

"Oh that's just priceless. Of the four men that have played big roles in my life three of you have the given name Richard, or varying forms of it." I laughed, I was delighted that he wasn't called Walter or Melvin or God forbid, Willy. "You'll always be Diesel to me; I don't think I could ever call you Richard." I shivered again; the blanket wasn't enough to ward off the chill of the night.

"C'mon, let's go home." He sat up and grabbed the wine and glasses, and I collected our clothes and the blanket. Holding on to me, he popped us home. "I'm sorry I can't do your trick of completely undressing us while we're teleporting, so you'll have to take your sweater off yourself."

"Or you could help me." Which he did, and of course, that just led to other things.

**End**


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